Robert O'Neal v. Fred McAninch, Warden

Decided February 21, 1995. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-7407 · 513 U.S. 432 (1995) · Cited 1,687 times

Holding

When a federal habeas court finds a constitutional trial error and is in grave doubt about whether the error had a “substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict,” the error is not harmless, and the petitioner must win.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Kotteakos v. United States · 328 U.S. 750 (1946)
• Palmer v. Hoffman · 318 U.S. 109 (1943)
• Brecht v. Abrahamson · 507 U.S. 619 (1993)
• Chapman v. California · 386 U.S. 18 (1967)
• United States v. Olano · 507 U.S. 725 (1993)
• Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
• Browder v. Director, Dept. of Corrections of Ill. · 434 U.S. 257 (1978)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• United States v. Lane · 474 U.S. 438 (1986)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
• United States v. Hasting · 461 U.S. 499 (1983)
• McDonough Power Equipment, Inc. v. Greenwood · 464 U.S. 548 (1984)
• Kuhlmann v. Wilson · 477 U.S. 436 (1986)
• Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio · 490 U.S. 642 (1989)
• Duckworth v. Eagan · 492 U.S. 195 (1989)
• Bruno v. United States · 308 U.S. 287 (1939)

Cited by

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

• Fry v. Pliler · 551 U.S. 112 (2007)
• Davis v. Ayala · 576 U.S. 257 (2015)
• California v. Roy · 519 U.S. 2 (1996)
• Hedgpeth v. Pulido · 555 U.S. 57 (2008)
• Banister v. Davis · 590 U.S. 504 (2020)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Calderon v. Coleman · 525 U.S. 141 (1998)
• Brown v. Davenport · 596 U.S. 118 (2022)
• Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs v. Sanders · 556 U.S. 396 (2009)
• Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)

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 (1995). 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).