Dorsey v. State

Eldridge, J., concurs in the result and filed a concurring opinion at page 226 infra.

Appellant Dorsey and Isaiah Wilson were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to commit murder and murder in the first degree. On appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, they claimed that the jury instructions dealing with the presumption of malice, and which placed upon them the burden of proving such mitigation as would negate malice, was unconstitutional under Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U. S. 684, 95 S. Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975), and In re Winship, 397 U. S. 358, 90 S. Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970).1…