Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 (1975), is a criminal case in which a unanimous court struck down a state statute requiring a defendant to prove the defense of provocation to downgrade a murder conviction to manslaughter.[1]: 17 Previous common law, such as in Commonwealth v. York (1845), allowed such burden on the defense.[1]: 17
| Mullaney v. Wilbur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued January 15, 1975 Decided June 9, 1975 | |
| Full case name | Mullaney v. Wilbur |
| Citations | 421 U.S. 684 (more) 95 S. Ct. 1881; 44 L. Ed. 2d 508; 1975 U.S. LEXIS 70 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | On writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit |
| Holding | |
| The Maine rule does not comport with the requirement of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt every fact necessary to constitute the crime charged. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Powell, joined by unanimous |
| Concurrence | Rehnquist, joined by Burger |
Maine's statute[2] defined murder as unlawfully killing with malice, with malice defined as deliberate and unprovoked cruelty, and added that killings were presumed to be unprovoked unless the defense proved provocation by a preponderance of the evidence.[1]: 17 Justice Powell delivered the opinion for the court that provocation was a crucial part of the charge in that it determined "the degree of culpability attaching to the criminal homicide".[1]: 17
States were able to circumvent this decision by careful wording, as in Patterson v. New York, in which provocation, or "extreme emotional disturbance", was classified as an allowable defense excuse, not as a listed element.[1]: 17
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e Criminal Law - Cases and Materials, 7th ed. 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, ISBN 978-1-4548-0698-1, [1]
- ^ Mullaney v. Wilbur, vol. 421, June 9, 1975, p. 684, retrieved February 25, 2017
External links
edit- Text of Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 (1975) is available from: Findlaw Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)