Adams v. State

92 Wis. 2d 875
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedNovember 20, 1979
DocketNo. 78-832-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 92 Wis. 2d 875 (Adams v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams v. State, 92 Wis. 2d 875 (Wis. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

BROWN, J.

This is an appeal from an attempted first-degree murder conviction.1 Defendant’s sole claim [878]*878on appeal is that the presumption instruction to the jury, relating to the element of intent, was unconstitutional in that it shifted the burden of proof to the defendant, it invaded the fact-finding function of the jury, and it was an irrational presumption. Thus, it violated the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. The instruction given and objected to at trial was Wis J I — Criminal, Part II, 1105, which states:

When there are no circumstances to prevent or rebut the presumption, the law presumes that a reasonable person intends all the natural, probable and usual consequences of his deliberate acts. If one person assaults another violently with a dangerous weapon, likely to kill, then when there are no circumstances to prevent or rebut the presumption, the legal and natural presumption is that death was intended.

We agree with the defendant that the effect of this instruction shifts the burden of proof to the defendant and, thereby, relieves the State of proving the element of intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

It is true that Wis J I — Criminal, Part II, 1105, has been specifically approved by our supreme court. See Fells v. State, 65 Wis.2d 525, 534, 223 N.W.2d 507, 512 (1974); Austin v. State, 52 Wis.2d 716, 721, 190 N.W.2d 887, 890 (1971). It is also true that the natural and probable consequences presumption in the instruction has been held to be constitutional in the face of a challenge that it violated the defendant’s constitutional due process right to be presumed innocent. State v. Vinson, 269 Wis. 305, 68 N.W.2d 712, 70 N.W.2d 1 (1955). The constitutionality of the Wis J I — Criminal, Part II, 1105, presumption has not, however, been authoritatively decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court since Mullaney v. [879]*879Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 (1975). In Mullaney, the United States Supreme Court held that a presumption which shifts the burden of proof to the defendant on an element of the offense was unconstitutional under the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. The question that remained after Mullaney was what kind of presumption or inference shifted the burden of proof to the defendant. In two recent cases, Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S. Ct. 2450, 61 L. Ed.2d 39 (1979), and Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 99 S. Ct. 2213, 60 L. Ed.2d 777 (1979), the United States Supreme Court has more fully explained the permissible limits of inferences and presumptions. Until these two cases had been decided, the terms “presumption” and “inference” were the object of confusion and misunderstanding and were, as one court put it, a “semanticist’s nightmare.” State v. Pendry, 227 N.E.2d 210, 221 (W. Va. 1976). Ulster County Court and Sandstrom now enable us to properly categorize the presumptive instructions used in Wisconsin in order to determine their constitutionality.2

Before categorizing the presumptions and inferences, however, it is important to understand the function presumptions and inferences play in a trial.

In our legal system, a defendant is presumed innocent until the State has proven him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The State, thus, has the burden of proving every element of the offense charged by competent proof [880]*880beyond a reasonable doubt. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970). However, oftentimes it is virtually impossible for the State to prove a necessary fact or element by direct evidence. One such fact is the defendant’s intent at the time a crime is committed. In order to assist the jury in determining whether the State has met its burden in proving these types of facts, the law created presumptions and inferences. A presumption or an inference is no more than a process of deductive reasoning whereby the jury may find that one fact exists from the proof of other facts. As stated in Justice Powell’s dissent in Ulster County Court v. Allen, supra at 168, 169, 99 S. Ct. at 2230, 60 L. Ed.2d at 799:

In the criminal law presumptions are used to encourage the jury to find certain facts, with respect to which no direct evidence is presented, solely because other facts have been proved. . . . The purpose of such presumptions is plain: Like certain other jury instructions, they provide guidance for jurors’ thinking in considering the evidence laid before them. Once in the juryroom, jurors necessarily draw inferences from the evidence — both direct and circumstantial. Through the use of presumptions, certain inferences are commended to the attention of jurors by legislatures or courts. [Footnote omitted.] [Citations omitted.]

Thus, the courts and the legislatures have created what are now called legal presumptions and inferences. These presumptions and inferences fall into various categories. We will now turn to the various presumptions and inferences as defined by the United States Supreme Court.

CATEGORIES OF PRESUMPTIONS

There are two basic categories of presumptions: permissive and mandatory. A permissive presumption, more commonly called a permissive inference, “allows — but [881]*881does not require — the trier of fact to infer the elemental fact from proof by the prosecutor of the basic one . . . Ulster County Court v. Allen, supra, at 157, 99 S. Ct. at 2224, 60 L. Ed.2d at 792. It “leaves the trier of fact free to credit or reject the inference . . . .” Ulster County Court, supra. The inference “could be ignored by the jury even if there was no affirmative proof offered by defendants in rebuttal.” (Footnote omitted.) Ulster County Court, supra at 161, 99 S. Ct. at 2226, 60 L. Ed.2d at 794.

The second category of presumptions is called a mandatory presumption. The United States Supreme Court has divided this type of presumption into two subcategories. Presumptions which cannot be overcome by evidence adduced by the other party (the defendant in this type of case) are referred to as “conclusive” presumptions. Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S. Ct. 2450, 61 L. Ed.2d 39; United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422 (1978); Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246 (1952). A conclusive presumption on an element of the crime cannot be rebutted in any way. The fact finder must accept the presumption as the proof of the element.

The second subcategory of mandatory presumptions are called rebuttable presumptions. Rebuttable presumptions are presumptions that can be overcome by evidence adduced by the defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
92 Wis. 2d 875, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-v-state-wisctapp-1979.