Henderson v. United States | |
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Argued November 28, 2012 Decided February 20, 2013 | |
Full case name | Armarcion D. Henderson v. United States |
Docket no. | 11-9307 |
Citations | 568 U.S. 266 (more) 133 S. Ct. 1121; 185 L. Ed. 2d 85; 2013 U.S. LEXIS 1611; 81 U.S.L.W. 4089 |
Case history | |
Prior | United States v. Henderson, 646 F.3d 223 (5th Cir. 2011); rehearing en banc denied, 665 F.3d 160 (5th Cir. 2011); cert. granted, 567 U.S. 934 (2012). |
Holding | |
The Supreme Court held that an error is deemed to be a "plain error" based on the law at the time of the appellate review of the case, not at the time of the trial. It is unreasonable to expect either the defendant or the trial court to predict the outcome of unsettled issues of law, therefore it is the role of the appellate court to review what is considered "plain error" at the time of the appellate review. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Breyer, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan |
Dissent | Scalia, joined by Thomas, Alito |
Henderson v. United States, 568 U.S. 266 (2013), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held regardless of whether a legal question was settled or unsettled at the time of trial, an error is "plain" within the meaning of Rule 52(b) of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure so long as the error was plain at the time of appellate review.[1]