326
Opinion of the Court
paramount importance of avoiding the injustice of executing one who is actually innocent thus requires application of the Carrier standard.42
We recognize, as the State has reminded us, that in Sawyer the Court applied its new standard not only to the penalty phase of the case but also to Sawyer's responsibility for arson, one of the elements of the offense of first-degree murder.43 This fact does not require application of the Sawyer standard to a case such as Schlup's. Though formulated as an element of the offense of first-degree murder, the arson functioned essentially as a sentence enhancer. That claim, therefore, is readily distinguishable from a claim, like the one raised by Schlup, that the petitioner is actually innocent. Fealty to the doctrine of stare decisis does not, therefore, preclude application of the Carrier standard to the facts of this case.44
Accordingly, we hold that the Carrier "probably resulted" standard rather than the more stringent Sawyer standard must govern the miscarriage of justice inquiry when a peti-42 By our references to Winship, of course, we do not suggest that Schlup comes before a habeas court in the same situation as one who has merely been accused of a crime. Having been convicted by a jury of a capital offense, Schlup no longer has the benefit of the presumption of innocence. Cf. Herrera v. Collins, 506 U. S., at 399 (O'Connor, J., concurring). To the contrary, Schlup comes before the habeas court with a strong—and in the vast majority of the cases conclusive—presumption of guilt. Our reference to Winship is intended merely to demonstrate that it is quite consistent with our jurisprudence to give content through a burden of proof to the understanding that fundamental injustice would result from the erroneous conviction and execution of an innocent person.
43 See Sawyer, 505 U. S., at 342, n. 8, 349-350.
44 Nor do we believe that confining Sawyer's more rigorous standard to claims involving eligibility for the sentence of death is anomalous. Our recognition of the significant difference between the injustice that results from an erroneous conviction and the injustice that results from an erroneous sentence is reflected in our decisions that permit reduced procedural protections at sentencing. See, e. g., Williams v. New York, 337 U. S. 241 (1949).
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