Patterson v. New York
- Decided
- June 17, 1977
- Docket
- 75-1861
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 2,751 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that a state may not require a defendant to prove an affirmative defense that negates an element of the crime — Baird v. State (1992)
- holding that the State need not "prove beyond a reasonable doubt every fact, the existence or nonexistence of which it is willing to recognize as ... affecting... the severity of the punishment" — United States v. Brian Goodine, A/K/A Dwayne Goodine (2003)
- holding that “the Due Process Clause requires the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements included in the definition of the offense of which the defendant is charged” — People v. Murray (2019)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*198] Mr. Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question here is the constitutionality under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause of burdening the defendant in a New York State murder trial with proving the affirmative defense of extreme emotional disturbance as defined by New York law.
I
Cite this
Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197 (1977)Read the full opinion
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