The following excerpt is from Lanning v. Hill, No. CIV S-06-2895 EFB P (E.D. Cal. 2011):
In an attempt to reframe the issue as a federal one, petitioner argues that these state-law errors deprived him of his right to due process under the federal Constitution because they somehow shifted the burden of proof to petitioner to prove that he acted in self-defense and was not a trespasser. While it is clearly-established federal law that "[t]he government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of a charged offense," Victor v. Nebraska, 511 U.S. 1,
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