366
Opinion of the Court
1 Hale, Pleas of the Crown, at *35), and that "[i]t would be a reproach to justice if a guilty man . . . postponed his trial upon a feigned condition of mind, as to his inability to aid in his defense," United States v. Chisolm, 149 F., at 288.23
Although they recognized this risk, the early authorities did not resort to a heightened burden of proof in competency proceedings. See Part III, supra.
More fundamentally, while the difficulty of ascertaining where the truth lies may make it appropriate to place the burden of proof on the proponent of an issue, it does not justify the additional onus of an especially high standard of proof. As the Chisolm Court continued,
"[I]t would be likewise a reproach to justice and our institutions, if a human being . . . were compelled to go to trial at a time when he is not sufficiently in possession of his mental faculties to enable him to make a rational and proper defense. The latter would be a more grievous error than the former; since in the one case an individual would go unwhipped of justice, while in the other the great safeguards which the law adopts in the punishment of crime and the upholding of justice would be rudely invaded by the tribunal whose sacred duty it is to uphold the law in all its integrity." 149 F., at 288.
A heightened standard does not decrease the risk of error, but simply reallocates that risk between the parties. See Cruzan v. Director, Mo. Dept. of Health, 497 U. S., at 283. In cases in which competence is at issue, we perceive no sound basis for allocating to the criminal defendant the large share of the risk which accompanies a clear and convincing evidence standard. We assume that questions of competence will arise in a range of cases including not only those in which one side will prevail with relative ease, but also those in which it is more likely than not that the defendant
23 See also People v. Lake, 2 N. Y. 215, 220, 222 (1855); State v. Harris, 78 Am. Dec. 272, 274 (N. C. 1860); State v. Tyler, 7 Ohio N. P., at 444.
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