Murray v. Carrier

In Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986), the Court clarified the applicable test and rejected "a reworking of the cause and prejudice test ... to dispense with the requirement that the petitioner show cause and instead focus exclusively on whether there has been a 'manifest injustice' or a denial of 'fundamental fairness.' " The court further stated: We remain confident that, for the most part, 'victims of a fundamental miscarriage of justice will meet the cause-and-prejudice standard.' ... But we do not pretend that this will always be true. Accordingly, we think that in an extraordinary case, where a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent, a federal habeas court may grant the writ even in the absence of a showing of cause for the procedural default. 477 U.S. at 495, 106 S.Ct. 2639.