Victor v. Nebraska

511 U.S. 1 (1994)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Sandoval (D) shot three men, two of them fatally in a gang-related incident. Two weeks later he entered the home of a man who had informed on him to the police related to the prior shooting and shot him dead and then killed his wife who witnessed the murder. D was found guilty and sentenced to death. The jury instruction regarding reasonable doubt contained the following disputed statements: not a mere possible doubt, depending on moral evidence, to a moral certainty. The California Supreme Court rejected D's claim that the instructions with the above statements violated Due Process.

Victor (D1) went to the home of an 82-year-old woman for whom he did gardening work for and beat her with a pipe, cut her throat and killed her. D1 was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and the sentence. D appealed based on the contents of his jury instruction regarding reasonable doubt: to a moral certainty, strong probabilities of the case, actual and substantial doubt.