578
Opinion of the Court
would be involuntarily committed if the jury returned an NGI verdict.2 The District Court refused to give Shannon's proposed charge. Instead, it instructed the jury "to apply the law as [instructed] regardless of the consequence," and that "punishment . . . should not enter your consideration or discussion." App. A-27 to A-28. The jury returned a guilty verdict.
The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed Shannon's conviction. 981 F. 2d 759 (1993). The court noted that under its pre-IDRA precedent, juries were not to be instructed concerning the consequences of an insanity acquittal. Id., at 761-762 (discussing United States v. McCracken, 488 F. 2d 406 (CA5 1974)). Turning to the text of the IDRA, the court observed that Congress had "said nothing about informing juries of the consequences" of an NGI verdict. 981 F. 2d, at 764. Because there was no "statutory requirement" to the contrary, the court "adhere[d] to the established axiom that it is inappropriate for a jury to consider or be informed about the consequences of its verdict." Ibid.3
2 Shannon asked the court to give either of the two following instructions: (1) " 'In the event it is your verdict that [Shannon] is not guilty only by reason of insanity, it is required that the Court commit [him]' "; or (2) " '[Y]ou should know that it is required that the Court commit [Shannon] to a suitable hospital facility until such time as [he] does not pose a substantial risk of bodily injury to another or serious damage to the property of another.' " App. A-22.
3 In addition to the court below, the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits recently have reaffirmed their pre-IDRA holdings that juries generally should not be instructed concerning the consequences of an insanity acquittal. See United States v. Frank, 956 F. 2d 872, 880-882 (CA9 1991), cert. denied, 506 U. S. 932 (1992); Thigpen, 4 F. 3d, at 1578. The Third Circuit has held that the decision to give such an instruction should be left to "the sound discretion of the trial judge." United States v. Fisher, 10 F. 3d 115, 122 (1993), cert. pending, No. 93-7000. A panel of the Second Circuit recently divided three ways on the issue. See United States v. Blume, 967 F. 2d 45, 50 (1992) (Newman, J., concurring) ("I believe the instruction should always be given unless the defendant prefers its omission. Judge Winter believes the instruction should normally not be
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