Carlisle v. United States, 517 U.S. 416, 12 (1996)

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Cite as: 517 U. S. 416 (1996)

Opinion of the Court

such a power. United States v. McCracken, 26 F. Cas. 1069, 1069 (No. 15,664) (ED Va. 1878); United States v. Hayden, 26 F. Cas. 236, 238 (No. 15,333) (NDNY 1877).5

5 The dissent's extended discussion of pre-Rule federal cases produces a lot of smoke, and no fire. Ansley v. United States, 135 F. 2d 207, 208 (CA5 1943), described by the dissent as "establishing a district court's inherent power to review sua sponte a jury verdict for sufficiency of the evidence," post, at 446, establishes no such thing. There, after noting the appellants' failure to renew their motions for directed verdict at the close of evidence, the Fifth Circuit said: "[T]he question of the sufficiency of the evidence was not properly saved for review by this court. It is true that the question may and should be raised by the court of its own motion, if necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice, but this is not such a case. We have examined the record, and have found it to contain ample evidence to support the judgment." 135 F. 2d, at 208.

It is obvious that the statement "the question may and should be raised by the court of its own motion" refers to the power of an appellate court to review sufficiency of the evidence where the issue has not been preserved for appeal. The cases cited by the dissent deal with the power of a district court to enter a judgment of acquittal before the return of a verdict (i. e., to direct a verdict of acquittal), see Cady v. United States, 293 F. 829 (CADC 1923); Nosowitz v. United States, 282 F. 575, 578 (CA2 1922); United States v. Fullerton, 25 F. Cas. 1225 (No. 15,176) (SDNY 1870); the power of a district court to set aside a verdict and order a new trial, see Wiborg v. United States, 163 U. S. 632, 658-659 (1896); United States v. Harding, 26 F. Cas. 131, 136 (No. 15,301) (ED Pa. 1846); cf. Charles v. State, 4 Port. 107, 109-110 (Ala. 1836); the power of a district court to enter judgment of acquittal where the defendant has made a preverdict or postverdict motion to acquit, see Ex parte United States, 101 F. 2d 870, 878 (CA7 1939), aff'd by an equally divided Court, United States v. Stone, 308 U. S. 519 (1939); United States v. Standard Oil Co., 23 F. Supp. 937, 938-939 (WD Wis. 1938); cf. State v. Meen, 171 Wis. 36, 38-39 (1920); and even the power of an appellate court to reverse a district court's denial of a motion for directed verdict, see Nosowitz, supra, at 578; Cherry v. United States, 78 F. 2d 334 (CA7 1935); Reiner v. United States, 92 F. 2d 823, 824-825 (CA9 1937); France v. United States, 164 U. S. 676, 680 (1897); Romano v. United States, 9 F. 2d 522, 524 (CA2 1925). Not a single pre-Rule case cited by the dissent purports to exercise the power at issue here: a district court's power to enter judgment of acquittal for insufficient evidence, without motion, and after the return of a guilty

427

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