Frank B. McFarland v. Wayne Scott, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division

Decided June 30, 1994. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-6497 · 512 U.S. 849 (1994) · Cited 1,282 times

Holding

A capital defendant need not file a formal habeas corpus petition in order to invoke his right to counsel under § 848(q)(4)(B) and to establish a federal court’s jurisdiction to enter a stay of execution.

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.

“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.

• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Townsend v. Sain · 372 U.S. 293 (1963)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases · 419 U.S. 102 (1974)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• Miles v. Apex Marine Corp. · 498 U.S. 19 (1990)
• Duckworth v. Eagan · 492 U.S. 195 (1989)
• Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction v. United States Marshals Service · 474 U.S. 34 (1985)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Woodford v. Garceau · 538 U.S. 202 (2003)
• Ryan v. Valencia Gonzales · 568 U.S. 57 (2013)
• Harbison v. Bell · 556 U.S. 180 (2009)
• Davila v. Davis · 582 U.S. 521 (2017)
• Home Depot U. S. A., Inc. v. Jackson · 587 U.S. 435 (2019)
• Sandoz Inc. v. Amgen Inc. · 582 U.S. 1 (2017)
• Martel v. Clair · 565 U.S. 648 (2012)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White · 548 U.S. 53 (2006)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1994). 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).