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YATES v. EVATT

No. 89-7691.

500 U.S. 391 (1991)

111 S.Ct. 1884

114 L.Ed.2d 432

YATES v. EVATT, COMMISSIONER, SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, ET AL.

Supreme Court of United States.

Decided May 28, 1991.

Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

David I. Bruck, by appointment of the Court, 498 U.S. 936, argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were John H. Blume and Christopher D. Cerf.

Miller W. Shealy, Jr., Assistant Attorney General of South Carolina, argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were T. Travis Medlock, Attorney General, pro se, and Donald J. Zelenka, Chief Deputy Attorney General.*

JUSTICE SOUTER delivered the opinion of the Court.†

This murder case comes before us for the third time, to review a determination by the Supreme Court of South Carolina that instructions allowing the jury to apply unconstitutional presumptions were harmless error. We hold that the State Supreme Court employed a deficient standard of review, find that the errors were not harmless, and reverse.

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