Francis, Warden v. Franklin

Decided April 29, 1985. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1590 · 471 U.S. 307 (1985) · Cited 2,053 times

Holding

The instruction on intent, when read in the context of the jury charge as a whole, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's requirement that the State prove every element of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Sandstrom v. Montana · 442 U.S. 510 (1979)
• Cupp v. Naughten · 414 U.S. 141 (1973)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• Patterson v. New York · 432 U.S. 197 (1977)
• County Court of Ulster Cty. v. Allen · 442 U.S. 140 (1979)
• Connecticut v. Johnson · 460 U.S. 73 (1983)
• Parker v. Randolph · 442 U.S. 62 (1979)
• Bruton v. United States · 391 U.S. 123 (1968)
• Jackson v. Denno · 378 U.S. 368 (1964)
• Wainwright v. Witt · 469 U.S. 412 (1985)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• Leary v. United States · 395 U.S. 6 (1969)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Bachellar v. Maryland · 397 U.S. 564 (1970)
• Boyd v. United States · 271 U.S. 104 (1926)

Cited by

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

• Boyde v. California · 494 U.S. 370 (1990)
• Yates v. Evatt · 500 U.S. 391 (1991)
• Rose v. Clark · 478 U.S. 570 (1986)
• Saffle v. Parks · 494 U.S. 484 (1990)
• Danforth v. Minnesota · 552 U.S. 264 (2008)
• Yates v. Aiken · 484 U.S. 211 (1988)
• California v. Brown · 479 U.S. 538 (1987)
• Burger v. Kemp · 483 U.S. 776 (1987)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Sullivan v. Louisiana · 508 U.S. 275 (1993)
• Mills v. Maryland · 486 U.S. 367 (1988)
• Virginia v. Black · 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
• Carella v. California · 491 U.S. 263 (1989)
• Pope v. Illinois · 481 U.S. 497 (1987)
• Martin v. Ohio · 480 U.S. 228 (1987)
• Diaz v. United States · 602 U.S. 526 (2024)
• United States v. Olano · 507 U.S. 725 (1993)
• Estelle v. McGuire · 502 U.S. 62 (1991)
• Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
• Richardson v. Marsh · 481 U.S. 200 (1987)
• Cheek v. United States · 498 U.S. 192 (1991)
• Cage v. Louisiana · 498 U.S. 39 (1990)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Kungys v. United States · 485 U.S. 759 (1988)
• Gray v. Maryland · 523 U.S. 185 (1998)
• Cabana v. Bullock · 474 U.S. 376 (1986)
• Gilmore v. Taylor · 508 U.S. 333 (1993)
• Smith v. Arizona · 602 U.S. 779 (2024)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).