As I explained above, the fact that the jury recognized the relevance of the mitigating "history and back-. to Pet. Petitioner was arrested the next morning. Petitioner Lonnie Weeks, Jr., was riding from Washington, D. C., to Richmond, Virginia, as a passenger in a car driven by his uncle, Lewis Dukes. dence.'" For the reasons stated above, it follows a fortiori that the adjudication of the Supreme Court of Virginia affirming petitioner's conviction and sentence neither was "contrary to," nor involved an "unreasonable application of," any of our decisions. But given the Court's apt recognition that we cannot, of course, actually know what occupied the jury during its final deliberations, ante, at 235, and in light of the explanation I have just offered, it is at the very least equally likely that the two hours of deliberation following the judge's answer were devoted to continuing debate about the same instruction, as they were to weighing aggravating and mitigating evidence (having been magically satisfied by the repetition of the instruction that had not theretofore answered its question). And the low priority and space which counsel assigned to the point on direct appeal suggests that the present emphasis was an afterthought. What remedies the defendant may have against them we need not inquire, as the Fourth Amendment is not directed to individual misconduct of such officials. Petitioner presented 47 assignments of error in his direct appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, and the assignment of error respecting the judge's answering the jury's question about mitigating circumstances was number 44. In his direct appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, Weeks' assignment of error respecting the judge's answering the jury's question about mitigating circumstances was number 44. 1414 et seq. 192-193. his punishment at death .... " Id., at 225 (emphasis added). See 2 Watson, Const. be considered when deciding whether either aggravating circumstance had been proved. But the most likely explanation is that the jury was doing exactly what it was instructed to do: that is, weighing the mitigating circumstances against the aggravating circumstance that it found to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. No. The utmost willingness was manifested to gratify them, and it may fairly be presumed that they had nothing further to ask"). Argued October 17, 1895. 318; United States v. McHie, 194 Fed. The Constitution does not require anything more, as a jury is presumed both to follow its instructions, Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U. S. 200, 211, and to understand a judge's answer to its question, see, e. g., Armstrong v. Toler, 11 Wheat. The judge also gave a specific instruction on mitigating evidence that was not given in Buchanan. In the circuit court of appeals, the view was expressed. In that case, however, it was the jury's question that was arguably unclear; the Court merely assumed that "the jury could not have intended to put a question which had been already answered." The jury's refusal to find that petitioner would constitute a continuing threat to society also explains why it did not use the second form, which covered the option of a death penalty supported by both aggravators.6 The choice then, was between the third alternative, which included a finding that the second aggravator had been proved,7 and the fourth or fifth alternatives, neither of which included any such finding.8 Despite the fact that trial counsel had expressly. Rather, the two life alternatives merely presented the jury with a choice between life plus a fine and a life sentence without a fine. Instead, he acted without sanction of law, doubtless prompted by the desire to bring further proof to the aid of the government, and, under color of his office, undertook to make a seizure of private papers in direct violation of the constitutional prohibition against such action. Because the Court creatively suggests that petitioner's claim has "the earmarks of an afterthought," ante, at 237, it is appropriate to note that his trial counsel specifically and repeatedly argued that both the instructions and the verdict forms were inadequate because" 'the jury has to be instructed that ... even if they find the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt, ... they can still give effect to the evidence in mitigation by sentencing the defendant to life, as opposed to death.'" 178. The efforts of the courts and their officials to bring the guilty to punishment, praiseworthy as they are, are not to be aided by the sacrifice of those great principles established be years of endeavor and suffering which have resulted in their embodiment in the fundamental law of the land. The tendency of those executing Federal criminal laws to obtain convictions by means of unlawful seizures and enforced confessions in violation of Federal rights is not to be sanctioned by the courts which are charged with the support of constitutional rights. 1. In this context, even if one finds the explanations of the jury's conduct here in equipoise, a 50-50 chance that the jury has not carried out this mandate seems to me overwhelming grounds for reversal. What, then, is the present case? the punishment of the defendant at life imprisonment, or imprisonment for life and a fine of a specific amount, but not more than $100,000.'" While the efforts of courts and their officials to bring the guilty to punishment are praiseworthy, they are not to be aided by sacrificing the great fundamental rights secured by the Constitution. clarity-clarity in the judge's instructions when there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury may misunderstand the governing rule of law. 258, 279 (1826) (opinion of Marshall, C. J.). The Weeks instructions contain a longer description of the ways in which the jury would be justified in imposing the death penalty; this made it especially unlikely that the jury would understand that it could lawfully impose a life sentence by either (1) refusing to find an aggravator, or (2) concluding that even if it found an aggravator, the mitigating evidence warranted a life sentence. ground" evidence to the question whether the aggravator had been proved sheds no light on the question whether it understood that such evidence would also be relevant on the separate question whether a life sentence would be appropriate even if Weeks was "guilty of at least 1 of the alternatives." During the penalty phase, the defense presented 10 witnesses, including petitioner, in mitigation.

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