Todd A. Brecht v. Gordon A. Abrahamson, Superintendent, Dodge Correctional Institution (507 U.S. 619)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 21, 1993 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 507 U.S. 619 · 113 S. Ct. 1710
- Decided
- April 21, 1993
- Term
- October Term 1992
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. In Chapman v. California, 386 U. S. 18, 24 (1967), we held that the standard for determining whether a conviction must be set aside because of federal constitutional error is whether the error “was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” In this case we must decide whether the Chapman harmless-error standard applies in determining whether the prosecution’s use for impeachment purposes of petitioner’s post-Miranda silence, in violation of due process under Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U. S. 610 (1976), entitles petitioner to ha-beas corpus relief. We hold that it does not. Instead, the standard for determining whether habeas relief must be granted is whether the Doyle error “had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.” Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U. S. 750, 776 (1946). The Kotteakos harmless-error standard is better tailored to the nature and purpose of collateral review than the Chapman standard, and application of a less onerous harmless-error standard on habeas promotes the considerations underlying our habeas jurisprudence. Applying this standard, we conclude that petitioner is not entitled to habeas relief. Petitioner Todd A. Brecht was serving time in a Georgia prison for felony theft when his sister and her husband, Molly and Roger Hartman, paid the restitution for petitioner’s…
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