''Leland v. Oregon'', 343 U.S. 790 (1952), was a

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case in which the Court upheld the

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of placing the burden of persuasion on the defendant when they argue an insanity defense in a

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.Bonnie, R.J. et al. ''Criminal Law, Second Edition.'' Foundation Press, New York, NY: 2004, p. 541 This differed from previous federal

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established in '' Davis v. United States'', in which the court held that if the defense raised an insanity defense, the prosecution must prove sanity beyond a reasonable doubt, but ''Davis'' was not a United States constitutional ruling, so only limited federal cases, but not state cases.''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012,

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; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder,

/ref> Oregon had a very high burden on defense, that insanity be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. At that time, twenty other states also placed the burden of persuasion on the defense for an insanity defense. The defendant was convicted of killing a fifteen-year-old girl in Multnomah County, Oregon, Multnomah County. After being arrested for auto theft, the defendant asked for a homicide officer, verbally confessed to the murder, took the police to the scene of the crime, and signed a written confession. After being indicted, he then spoke to a lawyer for the first time. At trial, a jury convicted him and recommended the death penalty. Oregon law required the defendant required proof of insanity beyond a reasonable doubt. The case claimed that the "statute in effect requires a defendant pleading insanity to establish his innocence by disproving beyond a reasonable doubt elements of the crime necessary to a verdict of guilty, and that the statute is therefore violative of that due process of law secured by the Fourteenth Amendment."

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* {{Criminal due process, doubt, state=expanded United States criminal burden of proof case law United States Supreme Court cases 1952 in United States case law Capital punishment in Oregon Multnomah County, Oregon Insanity-related case law Mental health case law in the United States United States Supreme Court cases of the Vinson Court