Carlos Trevino, Petitioner v. Rick Thaler, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division
Decided May 28, 2013. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 11-10189 · 569 U.S. 413 (2013) · Cited 1,236 times
Holding
Where, as here, a State’s procedural framework, by reason of its design and operation, makes it highly unlikely in a typical case that a defendant will have a meaningful opportunity to raise an ineffectiveassistance-of-trial-counsel claim on direct appeal, the exception recognized in Martinez applies.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Elena Kagan
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Sonia Sotomayor
Dissenting · 4
- Antonin Scalia · filed a dissenting opinion
- Clarence Thomas
- John Glover Roberts Jr. · filed a dissenting opinion
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Martinez v. Ryan · 566 U.S. 1 (2012)
- Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
- Harrington v. Richter · 562 U.S. 86 (2011)
- Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
- Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
- Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)
- Wiggins v. Smith, Warden · 539 U.S. 510 (2003)
- Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
- Massaro v. United States · 538 U.S. 500 (2003)
- Upjohn Co. v. United States · 449 U.S. 383 (1981)
- Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
- Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 420 (2000)
- Maples v. Thomas · 565 U.S. 266 (2012)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Davila v. Davis · 582 U.S. 521 (2017)
- Buck v. Davis · 580 U.S. 100 (2017)
- Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez · 596 U.S. 366 (2022)
- Ayestas v. Davis · 584 U.S. 28 (2018)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2013). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).