| Litigants: | Sandstrom v. Montana |
| Arguedate: | April 18 |
| Argueyear: | 1979 |
| Decidedate: | June 18 |
| Decideyear: | 1979 |
| Fullname: | David Sandstrom v. Montana |
| Usvol: | 442 |
| Uspage: | 510 |
| Parallelcitations: | 99 S. Ct. 2450; 61 L. Ed. 2d 39 |
| Docket: | 78-5384 |
| Holding: | The Fourteenth Amendment requires that a state must prove every element of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt, and may not shift the burden of proof to the defendant by means of a presumption of intent. |
| Majority: | Brennan |
| Joinmajority: | unanimous |
| Concurrence: | Rehnquist |
| Joinconcurrence: | Burger |
Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510 (1979), is a United States Supreme Court case that reaffirmed the prosecution's burden of proof of the mental element of a crime by striking down a jury instruction that "the law presumes that a person intends the ordinary consequences of his voluntary acts".[1] In Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307 (1985), Justice Brennan wrote about "Sandstrom and the wellspring due process principal from which it is drawn" as follows: