Sandstrom v. Montana

Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510 (1979), is a United States Supreme Court case that reaffirmed the prosecution's burden of proof of the mental element of a crime by striking down a jury instruction that "the law presumes that a person intends the ordinary consequences of his voluntary acts".^[1] In Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307 (1985), Justice Brennan wrote about "Sandstrom and the wellspring due process principal from which it is drawn" as follows:

Sandstrom v. Montana made clear that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a State from making use of jury instructions that have the effect of relieving the State of the burden of proof on the critical question of intent in a criminal prosecution.

Sandstrom v. Montana
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 18, 1979 Decided June 18, 1979
Full case name	David Sandstrom v. Montana
Docket no.	78-5384
Citations	442 U.S. 510 (more) 99 S. Ct. 2450; 61 L. Ed. 2d 39
Holding
The Fourteenth Amendment requires that a state must prove every element of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt, and may not shift the burden of proof to the defendant by means of a presumption of intent.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Brennan, joined by unanimous
Concurrence	Rehnquist, joined by Burger

References

1. Criminal Law Cases and Materials, Seventh Edition, 2012; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder

External links

• Text of Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510 (1979) is available from: Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)