Cite as: 511 U. S. 1 (1994)
Opinion of Blackmun, J.
the case" should be "strong enough to exclude any doubt of his guilt that is reasonable." But this qualification is useless since a "doubt of his guilt that is reasonable" is immediately defined, in the very next sentence, as a "substantial doubt." Thus, the supposed clarification only compounds the confusion by referring the jury to the "substantial doubt" phrase as a means of defining the "strong probabilities" language.
Finally, the instruction issued in Victor's case states that a reasonable doubt "is such a doubt as will not permit you, after full, fair, and impartial consideration of all the evidence, to have an abiding conviction, to a moral certainty, of the guilt of the accused." In Cage, the Court disapproved of the use of the phrase "moral certainty," because of the real possibility that such language would lead jurors reasonably to believe that they could base their decision to convict upon moral standards or emotion in addition to or instead of evidentiary standards. The risk that jurors would understand "moral certainty" to authorize convictions based in part on value judgments regarding the defendant's behavior is particularly high in cases where the defendant is alleged to have committed a repugnant or brutal crime. In Cage, we therefore contrasted "moral certainty" with "evidentiary certainty," and held that where "moral certainty" is used in conjunction with "substantial doubt" and "grave uncertainty," the Due Process Clause is violated. 498 U. S., at 41.
Just as in Cage, the "moral certainty" phrase in Victor's instruction is particularly dangerous because it is used in conjunction with language that overstates the degree of doubt necessary to convict. This relationship between the "moral certainty" language, which potentially understates the degree of certainty required to convict, and the "substantial doubt," "strong probabilities," and "possibly you may be mistaken" language which, especially when taken together, overstates the degree of doubt necessary to acquit, also distinguishes Victor's instruction from the one challenged in No. 92-9049, Sandoval v. California. See ante, at 7. The
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