The court then stated as follows: [In] this case, the defendant has plead [sic] not guilty to the charges contained in the indictment, and thereby has raised issues of fact that need to be tried by a jury, and that is why you are here this morning, we are going to select the jury and proceed to try the issues of fact in this case. Landrau contends that this instruction, regarding the effect of his not-guilty plea, diminished the presumption of his innocence and impermissibly shifted or reduced the government’s burden of proof at trial. According to Landrau, because a defendant is never required to “raise issues of fact,” the court’s instruction may have confused the jury as to the proper standard of proof required of the government. See Hill v. Maloney, 927 F.2d 646, 648 (1st Cir.1990) (<HOLDING>). Because Landrau did not raise this issue
holding that conviction of a crime requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime holding state must prove every element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt and a scheme that shifts the burden of proof to the defendant by presuming a fact upon proof of the other elements of the offense violates due process holding that even when a jury instruction is defective such a defect is cured when the court provides the jury with the indictment and instructs jurors that the burden of proof rests upon the state to prove every material allegation of the indictment and every essential element of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt holding due process clause requires the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements included in the definition of the charged offense and new york law that requires the defendant in a second degree murder prosecution to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the affirmative defense of extreme emotional disturbance in order to reduce the crime to manslaughter when no element of the charged offense is presumed does not violate the due process clause holding that the due process clause requires that the prosecution bear the burden of proving every essential element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and evidentiary presumptions in a jury charge that have the effect of relieving the government of that burden are therefore unconstitutional