Supreme Court of the United States / October Term 1985

Murray, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections v. Carrier

Decided June 26, 1986. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-1554 · 477 U.S. 478 (1986) · Cited 7,499 times

Holding

A federal habeas petitioner, such as respondent, cannot show cause for a procedural default by establishing that competent defense counsel's failure to raise a substantive claim of error was inadvertent rather than deliberate.

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 7–2.

“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.

Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
Reed v. Ross · 468 U.S. 1 (1984)
Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
Francis v. Henderson · 425 U.S. 536 (1976)
Davis v. United States · 411 U.S. 233 (1973)
Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
United States v. Frady · 456 U.S. 152 (1982)
Rose v. Lundy · 455 U.S. 509 (1982)
United States v. Bagley · 473 U.S. 667 (1985)
Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
Harris v. Nelson · 394 U.S. 286 (1969)
Moore v. Dempsey · 261 U.S. 86 (1923)
Shotwell Manufacturing Co. v. United States · 371 U.S. 341 (1963)
Johnson v. Zerbst · 304 U.S. 458 (1938)
United States v. Agurs · 427 U.S. 97 (1976)
Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
United States v. Cronic · 466 U.S. 648 (1984)
Cuyler v. Sullivan · 446 U.S. 335 (1980)
Evitts v. Lucey · 469 U.S. 387 (1985)
Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
Burford v. Sun Oil Co. · 319 U.S. 315 (1943)
Carnley v. Cochran · 369 U.S. 506 (1962)
Henderson v. Kibbe · 431 U.S. 145 (1977)
Jones v. Cunningham · 371 U.S. 236 (1963)

Cited by

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

Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
Edwards v. Carpenter · 529 U.S. 446 (2000)
Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
Martinez v. Ryan · 566 U.S. 1 (2012)
McQuiggin v. Perkins · 569 U.S. 383 (2013)
Dretke v. Haley · 541 U.S. 386 (2004)
Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes · 504 U.S. 1 (1992)
Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez · 596 U.S. 366 (2022)
Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
Davila v. Davis · 582 U.S. 521 (2017)
Calderon v. Thompson · 523 U.S. 538 (1998)
Dugger v. Adams · 489 U.S. 401 (1989)
Bousley v. United States · 523 U.S. 614 (1998)
Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
Strickler v. Greene · 527 U.S. 263 (1999)
Trevino v. Thaler · 569 U.S. 413 (2013)
Maples v. Thomas · 565 U.S. 266 (2012)
Amadeo v. Zant · 486 U.S. 214 (1988)
O'Sullivan v. Boerckel · 526 U.S. 838 (1999)
Herrera v. Collins · 506 U.S. 390 (1993)
Ylst v. Nunnemaker · 501 U.S. 797 (1991)
House v. Bell · 547 U.S. 518 (2006)
Lee v. Kemna · 534 U.S. 362 (2002)
Harrington v. Richter · 562 U.S. 86 (2011)
Woodford v. Ngo · 548 U.S. 81 (2006)
Burger v. Kemp · 483 U.S. 776 (1987)
Granberry v. Greer · 481 U.S. 129 (1987)
Banks v. Dretke · 540 U.S. 668 (2004)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).