Cupp, Penitentiary Superintendent v. Naughten

Decided December 4, 1973. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-1148 · 414 U.S. 141 (1973) · Cited 2,639 times

Holding

The instruction cannot be considered in isolation and when viewed, as it must be, in the context of the overall charge, in which the trial court twice gave explicit instructions affirming the presumption of innocence and declaring the State's obligation to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, did not so infect the entire trial that the resulting conviction violated the requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the challenged instruction having neither shifted the burden of proof to the defendant nor negated the presumption of innocence accorded under state law.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Cool v. United States · 409 U.S. 100 (1972)
• Boyd v. United States · 271 U.S. 104 (1926)
• Turner v. United States · 396 U.S. 398 (1970)
• Harrington v. California · 395 U.S. 250 (1969)
• Chapman v. California · 386 U.S. 18 (1967)
• Snyder v. Massachusetts · 291 U.S. 97 (1934)
• McNabb v. United States · 318 U.S. 332 (1943)
• Barnes v. United States · 412 U.S. 837 (1973)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Francis v. Franklin · 471 U.S. 307 (1985)
• Gilmore v. Taylor · 508 U.S. 333 (1993)
• United States v. Frady · 456 U.S. 152 (1982)
• Donnelly v. DeChristoforo · 416 U.S. 637 (1974)
• Henderson v. Kibbe · 431 U.S. 145 (1977)
• Estelle v. McGuire · 502 U.S. 62 (1991)
• Smith v. Phillips · 455 U.S. 209 (1982)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• United States v. Hasting · 461 U.S. 499 (1983)
• United States v. Park · 421 U.S. 658 (1975)
• Middleton v. McNeil · 541 U.S. 433 (2004)
• Waddington v. Sarausad · 555 U.S. 179 (2009)
• Frazier v. Heebe · 482 U.S. 641 (1987)
• United States v. Tsarnaev · 595 U.S. 302 (2022)
• Thomas v. Arn · 474 U.S. 140 (1985)
• United States v. Young · 470 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Sandstrom v. Montana · 442 U.S. 510 (1979)
• Caldwell v. Mississippi · 472 U.S. 320 (1985)
• Arizona v. Washington · 434 U.S. 497 (1978)
• Boyde v. California · 494 U.S. 370 (1990)
• Herring v. New York · 422 U.S. 853 (1975)
• Jones v. United States · 527 U.S. 373 (1999)
• Taylor v. Kentucky · 436 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Mu'Min v. Virginia · 500 U.S. 415 (1991)
• Wainwright v. Greenfield · 474 U.S. 284 (1986)
• Fletcher v. Weir · 455 U.S. 603 (1982)
• Connecticut v. Johnson · 460 U.S. 73 (1983)
• Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. · 542 U.S. 241 (2004)
• Harris v. Rivera · 454 U.S. 339 (1981)
• James v. Kentucky · 466 U.S. 341 (1984)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1973). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).