| Litigants: | Davis v. United States |
| Submitdate: | October 30 |
| Submityear: | 1895 |
| Decidedate: | December 16 |
| Decideyear: | 1895 |
| Fullname: | Davis v. United States |
| Usvol: | 160 |
| Uspage: | 469 |
| Parallelcitations: | 16 S. Ct. 353; 40 L. Ed. 499; 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2370 |
| Majority: | Harlan |
| Joinmajority: | unanimous |
Davis v. United States, 160 U.S. 469 (1895), is a criminal case establishing that in a federal case, the prosecution bears the burden of proof of sanity if an insanity defense is raised.[1] It is a common law ruling that sets precedent in federal court, but is not a constitutional ruling interpreting the United States Constitution, so does not preclude states from requiring defendants to prove insanity, even to the point of requiring defendants to prove insanity beyond a reasonable doubt, as in Leland v. Oregon (1951).[1]