Robert C. Cook v. Dale Foltz

KEITH, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Robert Cook, a Michigan prisoner convicted of first-degree murder, appeals from the final judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner contends, inter alia, that the trial judge’s instruction to the jury on the issue of malice unconstitutionally shifted the burden of proof to the accused. See Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979); In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). He also contends that the trial…