United States v. Owens
Decided February 23, 1988. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 86-877 · 484 U.S. 554 (1988) · Cited 997 times
Holding
Neither the Confrontation Clause nor Rule 802 is violated by admission of a prior, out-of-court identification statement of a witness who is unable, because of memory loss, to explain the basis for the identification.
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 6–2.
Majority · 6
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 2
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Delaware v. Fensterer · 474 U.S. 15 (1985)
- California v. Green · 399 U.S. 149 (1970)
- Ohio v. Roberts · 448 U.S. 56 (1980)
- Dutton v. Evans · 400 U.S. 74 (1970)
- Kentucky v. Stincer · 482 U.S. 730 (1987)
- Delaware v. Van Arsdall · 475 U.S. 673 (1986)
- Neil v. Biggers · 409 U.S. 188 (1972)
- Manson v. Brathwaite · 432 U.S. 98 (1977)
- Pennsylvania v. Ritchie · 480 U.S. 39 (1987)
- Douglas v. Alabama · 380 U.S. 415 (1965)
- Mancusi v. Stubbs · 408 U.S. 204 (1972)
- Nelson v. O'NEIL · 402 U.S. 622 (1971)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Tome v. United States · 513 U.S. 150 (1995)
- Williamson v. United States · 512 U.S. 594 (1994)
- Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).