Brief Fact Summary. Appellant was convicted of murder. Appellant contends that the jury instruction offered presented an irrebuttable presumption of guilt.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A conclusive presumption of intent in this case would conflict with the overriding presumption of innocence with which the law endows the accused and which extends to every element of the crime
Issue. Whether a jury instruction stating that the law presumes intent from the ordinary consequences of voluntary acts is a violation of 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States requiring the State to prove every element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
Held. The instruction in this case is unconstitutional.
The Due Process Clause of the Constitution protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged.
A conclusive presumption of intent in this case would conflict with the overriding presumption of innocence with which the law endows the accused and which extends to every element of the crime.
Rather, we hold that a defendant's state of mind or intent is an element of a criminal antitrust offense which must be established by evidence and inferences drawn therefrom and cannot be taken from the trier of fact through reliance on a legal presumption of wrongful intent from proof of an effect on prices.
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