Cite as: 525 U. S. 141 (1998)
Per Curiam
man could be effectively isolated from the community only through a sentence of death." Id., at 1119.
Having concluded that the giving of the instruction was constitutional error, the Court of Appeals then took up the State's argument that, even if the instruction was unconstitutional, it "did not have a 'substantial and injurious effect or influence' on the jury's sentence of death," ibid., as required by Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U. S. 619, 637 (1993). The court explained:
"To decide this question, we look to Boyde v. California, 494 U. S. 370 (1990). When the inaccuracy undermines the jury's understanding of sentencing options, 'there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a way that prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence.' Boyde, 494 U. S. at 380.
"We conclude the district court did not err in holding that Coleman was denied due process by the state trial court's inaccurate commutation instruction." 150 F. 3d, at 1119 (citations omitted).
Though the Court of Appeals' constitutional analysis of the jury instruction, and the Circuit precedent on which it relied, have not been approved by this Court, we do not consider the validity of that analysis here because the State has not asked us to do so. We will simply assume at this stage that the instruction did not meet constitutional standards. The State does contend, however, that the Court of Appeals erred by failing to apply the harmless-error analysis of Brecht. We agree.
We held in Brecht that a federal court may grant habeas relief based on trial error only when that error " 'had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict.' " 507 U. S., at 637 (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U. S. 750, 776 (1946)). This standard reflects the "presumption of finality and legality" that attaches
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