442
Stevens, J., dissenting
insufficient guilty verdict. See United States v. Smith, 331 U. S. 469, 474 (1947). Finally, given that a motion was not thought to be needed in order for the District Court to exercise its inherent power either to direct an acquittal, or to set aside an unsupported verdict and order a new trial, there is no reason to conclude that a district court is utterly powerless to remedy a wrongful conviction in the exceedingly rare circumstance in which an unforeseen accident results in the defendant's failure to file a motion for acquittal.
In all events, a district court clearly has the inherent authority to ensure that a legally innocent defendant is not wrongfully convicted. It would be most strange to conclude that this authority, which enables a district court to keep a case from the jury altogether when the Government fails to prove its case, does not permit that same court to revise a guilty verdict that the jury returns despite the Government's insufficient proof. That conclusion is particularly difficult to fathom when one considers that the latter action may be appealed by the Government, while the former may not. United States v. Wilson, 420 U. S. 332, 345 (1975). Not surprisingly, therefore, numerous courts have recognized that, prior to the passage of Rule 29, district courts possessed the inherent power to acquit defendants sua sponte. See United States v. Hughes, 759 F. Supp. 530, 532- 536 (WD Ark.), aff'd sub nom. United States v. Haren, 952 F. 2d 190 (CA8 1991); United States v. DiBernardo, 880 F. 2d 1216, 1225, n. 4 (CA11 1989); United States v. Coleman, 811 F. 2d 804 (CA3 1987); United States v. Giampa, 758 F. 2d 928, 936, n. 1 (CA3 1985); Arizona v. Manypenny, 672 F. 2d, at 765; Ansley v. United States, 135 F. 2d, at 208; see also United States v. Weinstein, 452 F. 2d 704, 713, 714 (CA2 1971); United States v. Broadus, 664 F. Supp. 592, 595-598 (DC 1987).
The majority states that no pre-Rule case establishes the precise power at issue here. Ante, at 427-428, n. 5. That
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