Richard F. Trest v. Burl Cain, Warden
Decided December 9, 1997. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 96-7901 · 522 U.S. 87 (1997) · Cited 363 times
Holding
A court of appeals is not “required” to raise the issue of procedural default sua sponte.
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 9–0.
Majority · 9
“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.
- Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
- Rose v. Lundy · 455 U.S. 509 (1982)
- Granberry v. Greer · 481 U.S. 129 (1987)
- Boykin v. Alabama · 395 U.S. 238 (1969)
- Gray v. Netherland · 518 U.S. 152 (1996)
- Jenkins v. Anderson · 447 U.S. 231 (1980)
- Lambrix v. Singletary · 520 U.S. 518 (1997)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Day v. McDonough · 547 U.S. 198 (2006)
- Johnson v. Lee · 578 U.S. 605 (2016)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). 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).