Watts v. United States

The majority holds today that the trial judge properly instructed the jury that It must return a guilty verdict if it found beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant committed acts which constituted the essential elements of the crime charged.1 I must respectfully disagree. In my view, this peremptory command, equivalent to a directed verdict, seriously invaded the province and prerogatives of the jury, thereby undermining appellant’s constitutional right to a jury trial.

*713The Sixth Amendment provides that a criminal defendant shall have the right to a trial by an impartial jury. A…