Leroy Chasson v. Joseph Ponte, 459 U.S. 1162 (1983)

459 U.S.
1162
103 S.Ct. 805
74 L.Ed.2d 1007
Leroy CHASSON
v.
Joseph PONTE et al
No. 82-5646
Edwin RIVERA
v.
Philip COOMBE, Jr., Superintendent, Eastern New York
Correctional Facility
No. 82-5763
Supreme Court of the United States
January 17, 1983
On petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for
the First Circuit.
On petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit.
The petitions for writs of certiorari are denied.
Justice MARSHALL, with whom Justice BRENNAN joins, dissenting
from denial of certiorari.
In Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979),

this Court held that a defendant's right to due process is violated when the trial
judge, charging the jury on the issue of criminal intent, instructs the jury to
presume that each person intends the natural consequences of his act. We left
open the possibility that the impermissible effects of such a jury instruction
might be "removed" by other instructions that are "rhetorically inconsistent

with a conclusive or burden-shifting presumption." Id., at 518-519, n. 7, 99
S.Ct., at 2456, n. 7. In each of these cases the trial judge gave an instruction
concerning intent that was improperly cast in the form of a mandatory
presumption. In each case the Court of Appeals held that the improper
instruction was cured by other instructions concerning intent, even though the
additional instructions were not rhetorically inconsistent with the improper
charge. I would grant certiorari in order to address this misinterpretation of this
Court's decision in Sandstrom. In No. 82-5763, petitioner Edwin Rivera was
convicted in state court of first-degree manslaughter and misdemeanor
possession of a weapon. The trial judge's instruction concerning intent began
with the following statement: "I shall now define intent for you. A person is
presumed to intend the natural consequence of his act." This statement is
substantively identical to the instruction in Sandstrom which we held improper
because "a reasonable juror could have given the presumption conclusive or
persuasion-shifting effect." 442 U.S., at 519, 99 S.Ct., at 2456-57. See id., at
513, 99 S.Ct., at 2453-54. Accordingly, on collateral review the District Court
granted a writ of habeas corpus.
2
The decision of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversing the
District Court cannot be squared with our holding in Sandstrom. The Court of
Appeals' conclusion that the charge as a whole was proper rested on the
existence of later statements in the charge suggesting that the presumption is
permissive, and on boilerplate language concerning the state's burden of proof
and the jury's duty to consider all relevant evidence. Conspicuously absent from
the lower court's opinion is the conclusion that any of these additional
statements were rhetorically inconsistent with the impermissible mandatory
presumption language. The reason is clear: the additional instructions
reasonably could have been understood by the jury in a manner entirely
consistent with the improper mandatory presumption.1
The presence of some arguably permissive-presumption language in the judge's

charge on intent merely created the "possibility that some jurors may have
interpreted the challenged instruction as permissive." Sandstrom, supra, at 519,
99 S.Ct., at 2456. As in Sandstrom, this possibility did not entitle the court to
"discount the [other] possibility that [Rivera's] jurors actually did proceed
upon" an impermissible, mandatory presumption. 2 Id. Nor were the defective
instructions cured by the presence of familiar language concerning burden of
proof and the duty to consider all evidence. As we explained in Sandstrom,
general instructions such as these are "not rhetorically inconsistent with a
conclusive or burden-shifting presumption." Id., at 518, n. 7, 99 S.Ct., at 2456,
n. 7. Because there were no rhetorically inconsistent instructions that removed
the effects of the impermissible mandatory presumption instructions, the

charge as a whole was defective and Rivera's conviction cannot stand.3
4
For similar reasons, petitioner Chasson's conviction in No. 82-5646 must also
be vacated. At Chasson's trial for first degree murder, the state trial court
instructed the jury that "[w]hen one does an unlawful act he is by law presumed
to have intended to do it and to have intended its ordinary and natural
consequences. . . ." This instruction is substantively identical to the instruction
found impermissible in Sandstrom. In this case the trial judge also charged with
respect to "deliberate premeditation" that the jury must find "the prior
formation of the purpose to kill." The District Court denied Chasson's writ of
habeas corpus, and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed. The
Court of Appeals held that Sandstrom was not violated because, in light of the
charge on premeditation, the improper " 'instruction by itself [did not] so
infect[ ] the entire trial that the resulting conviction violates due process,' Cupp
v. Naughten, 414 U.S. 141, 94 S.Ct. 396, 38 L.Ed.2d 368 (1973); Henderson v.
Kibbe, 431 U.S. 145, 154, 97 S.Ct. 1730, 1736, 52 L.Ed.2d 203 (1977)."
The Court of Appeals' interpretation of Sandstrom is clearly improper. The

additional instruction in this case was entirely consistent with the impermissible
presumption of intent. Indeed, the jury reasonably could have applied the
presumption to its finding of premeditation in the belief that when one does the
unlawful act of killing he is "presumed" to have formed the prior purpose to
kill. Id., at 525-526, 99 S.Ct., at 2459-60. I would grant certiorari to correct the
misinterpretation of Sandstrom.
Indeed, the trial judge's further instructions reinforced the impermissible

presumption:
"Under our law every person is presumed to intend the natural and inevitable
consequences of his own voluntary acts and unless such acts were done under
circumstances which would preclude the existence of such intent, the jury has a
right to infer from the results produced, the intention to effect such result."
The jury reasonably could have interpreted this instruction as a mandatory
rebuttable presumption which, like a mandatory conclusive presumption,
violates due process. 442 U.S., at 519, 99 S.Ct., at 2456. Even if the jury
interpreted the latter portion of the instruction as describing only a permissive
presumption it would not be rhetorically inconsistent with the earlier defective
instructions. See 534 F.Supp. 980, 991-993 (SDNY 1982). However it was
interpreted, this additional instruction clearly did not remove the impermissible
effects of the trial judge's initial instruction concerning intent.

2
For example, the instruction that "intent may be inferred from all the
circumstances of the case," 683 F.2d 697, at 701, did not preclude the jury from
employing a mandatory presumption to find intent; nor is it inconsistent with
such a reliance, since it could reasonably have been interpreted as permitting
the jury to consider circumstantial (as opposed to direct) evidence as to Rivera's
acts from which intent is automatically presumed. Similarly, the instruction that
intent is a "question of fact," id., at 701, is entirely consistent with a mandatory
presumption of intent based on factual findings as to certain acts.
The Court of Appeals found it significant that the jury acquitted Rivera of
second-degree murder. 683 F.2d, at 702. However, this in no way precludes the
possibility that some jurors may have employed the mandatory presumption to
find that Rivera intended to cause serious physical injury, an element of the
manslaughter conviction. See id., at 704 (Oakes, J., dissenting). The Court of
Appeals also suggested in passing that Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99
S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979), should be limited to those situations where
the only defense is intent. 683 F.2d, at 700. Nothing in Sandstrom supports such
a narrow reading of that decision.

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459 U.S.

In Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979),

might be "removed" by other instructions that are "rhetorically inconsistent

The presence of some arguably permissive-presumption language in the judge's

the effects of the impermissible mandatory presumption instructions, the

The Court of Appeals' interpretation of Sandstrom is clearly improper. The

Indeed, the trial judge's further instructions reinforced the impermissible

effects of the trial judge's initial instruction concerning intent.

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