United States v. Guy W. Olano, Jr., and Raymond M. Gray

Decided April 26, 1993. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-1306 · 507 U.S. 725 (1993) · Cited 16,571 times

Holding

The presence of the alternate jurors during jury deliberations was not an error that the Court of Appeals was authorized to correct under Rule 52(b).

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.

• United States v. Young · 470 U.S. 1 (1985)
• United States v. Atkinson · 297 U.S. 157 (1936)
• Remmer v. United States · 347 U.S. 227 (1954)
• United States v. Frady · 456 U.S. 152 (1982)
• Smith v. Phillips · 455 U.S. 209 (1982)
• Patton v. Yount · 467 U.S. 1025 (1984)
• Gray v. Mississippi · 481 U.S. 648 (1987)
• Silber v. United States · 370 U.S. 717 (1962)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Thomas v. Arn · 474 U.S. 140 (1985)
• Johnson v. Zerbst · 304 U.S. 458 (1938)
• Kotteakos v. United States · 328 U.S. 750 (1946)
• Arizona v. Fulminante · 499 U.S. 279 (1991)
• Richardson v. Marsh · 481 U.S. 200 (1987)
• Rose v. Clark · 478 U.S. 570 (1986)
• United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. · 310 U.S. 150 (1940)
• Francis v. Franklin · 471 U.S. 307 (1985)
• Yakus v. United States · 321 U.S. 414 (1944)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Freytag v. Commissioner · 501 U.S. 868 (1991)
• Hormel v. Helvering · 312 U.S. 552 (1941)
• United States v. Lane · 474 U.S. 438 (1986)
• Holbrook v. Flynn · 475 U.S. 560 (1986)
• Turner v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 466 (1965)
• Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States · 487 U.S. 250 (1988)
• Parker v. Gladden · 385 U.S. 363 (1966)
• Johnson v. United States · 318 U.S. 189 (1943)
• Ortega-Rodriguez v. United States · 507 U.S. 234 (1993)
• Connor v. Finch · 431 U.S. 407 (1977)

Cited by

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

• Molina-Martinez v. United States · 578 U.S. 189 (2016)
• Henderson v. United States · 568 U.S. 266 (2013)
• Puckett v. United States · 556 U.S. 129 (2009)
• Johnson v. United States · 520 U.S. 461 (1997)
• Nguyen v. United States · 539 U.S. 69 (2003)
• Rosales-Mireles v. United States · 585 U.S. 129 (2018)
• United States v. Gaudin · 515 U.S. 506 (1995)
• United States v. Cotton · 535 U.S. 625 (2002)
• United States v. Dominguez Benitez · 542 U.S. 74 (2004)
• Greenlaw v. United States · 554 U.S. 237 (2008)
• Neder v. United States · 527 U.S. 1 (1999)
• United States v. Vonn · 535 U.S. 55 (2002)
• O'NEAL v. McAninch · 513 U.S. 432 (1995)
• Jones v. United States · 527 U.S. 373 (1999)
• Holguin-Hernandez v. United States · 589 U.S. 169 (2020)
• Davis v. United States · 589 U.S. 345 (2020)
• Greer v. United States · 593 U.S. 503 (2021)
• Wood v. Milyard · 566 U.S. 463 (2012)
• United States v. Mezzanatto · 513 U.S. 196 (1995)
• Samia v. United States · 599 U.S. 635 (2023)
• Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs v. Sanders · 556 U.S. 396 (2009)
• Stern v. Marshall · 564 U.S. 462 (2011)
• Kontrick v. Ryan · 540 U.S. 443 (2004)
• Day v. McDonough · 547 U.S. 198 (2006)
• Mickens v. Taylor · 535 U.S. 162 (2002)
• Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. v. Norris · 512 U.S. 246 (1994)
• Tapia v. United States · 564 U.S. 319 (2011)
• Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. · 596 U.S. 411 (2022)
• New York v. Hill · 528 U.S. 110 (2000)
• Daniels v. United States · 532 U.S. 374 (2001)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Sandra Day O'Connor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). 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).