United States v. Agurs

Decided June 24, 1976. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-491 · 427 U.S. 97 (1976) · Cited 6,537 times

Holding

The prosecutor's failure to tender Sewell's criminal record to the defense did not deprive respondent of a fair trial as guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, where it appears that the record was not requested by defense counsel and gave rise to no inference of perjury, that the trial judge remained convinced of respondent's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt after considering the criminal record in the context of the entire record, and that the judge's firsthand appraisal of the entire record was thorough and entirely reasonable.

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.

• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• Mooney v. Holohan · 294 U.S. 103 (1935)
• Giglio v. United States · 405 U.S. 150 (1972)
• Napue v. Illinois · 360 U.S. 264 (1959)
• Giles v. Maryland · 386 U.S. 66 (1967)
• Moore v. Illinois · 408 U.S. 786 (1972)
• Kotteakos v. United States · 328 U.S. 750 (1946)
• Berger v. United States · 295 U.S. 78 (1935)
• Donnelly v. DeChristoforo · 416 U.S. 637 (1974)
• Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
• Culombe v. Connecticut · 367 U.S. 568 (1961)
• Rogers v. Richmond · 365 U.S. 534 (1961)
• Pyle v. Kansas · 317 U.S. 213 (1942)
• Miller v. Pate · 386 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Alcorta v. Texas · 355 U.S. 28 (1957)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Bagley · 473 U.S. 667 (1985)
• Kyles v. Whitley · 514 U.S. 419 (1995)
• Arizona v. Youngblood · 488 U.S. 51 (1988)
• Smith v. Phillips · 455 U.S. 209 (1982)
• Turner v. United States · 582 U.S. 313 (2017)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Strickler v. Greene · 527 U.S. 263 (1999)
• Wearry v. Cain · 577 U.S. 385 (2016)
• California v. Trombetta · 467 U.S. 479 (1984)
• Cone v. Bell · 556 U.S. 449 (2009)
• Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
• United States v. Cronic · 466 U.S. 648 (1984)
• Pennsylvania v. Ritchie · 480 U.S. 39 (1987)
• United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal · 458 U.S. 858 (1982)
• Smith v. Cain · 565 U.S. 73 (2012)
• Illinois v. Fisher · 540 U.S. 544 (2004)
• Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)
• Moran v. Burbine · 475 U.S. 412 (1986)
• United States v. Dominguez Benitez · 542 U.S. 74 (2004)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Greer v. Miller · 483 U.S. 756 (1987)
• United States v. Ruiz · 536 U.S. 622 (2002)
• Banks v. Dretke · 540 U.S. 668 (2004)
• Mabry v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 504 (1984)
• Nix v. Whiteside · 475 U.S. 157 (1986)
• Dretke v. Haley · 541 U.S. 386 (2004)
• Lee v. United States · 432 U.S. 23 (1977)
• Glossip v. Oklahoma · 604 U.S. 226 (2025)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). 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).