Barnes v. United States
United States Supreme Court
412 U.S. 837 (1973)
Barnes (defendant) opened a checking account under a pseudonym and days later deposited several stolen U.S. Treasury checks addressed to four people who testified they never received the checks and did not know Barnes. He was convicted of possessing stolen government checks and related forgery and uttering counts after the jury was instructed it could infer Barnes's knowledge that the checks were stolen from his unexplained possession of them.
Whether a statutory inference regarding a defendant's knowledge or intent, if not satisfactorily explained, is sufficient to support a criminal conviction when the inference is reasonable and allows a rational juror to find the inferred fact beyond a reasonable doubt.