At his first-degree murder trial in Wisconsin state court, petitioner Brecht admitted shooting the victim, but claimed it was an accident. In order to impeach this testimony, the State, inter alia, made several references to the fact that, before he was given his Miranda warnings at an arraignment, Brecht failed to tell anyone with whom he came in contact that the shooting was accidental. The State also made several references to his post-Miranda-warning silence in this regard. The jury returned a guilty verdict, and Brecht was sentenced to life in prison, but the State Court of Appeals set the conviction aside on the grounds that the States references to his post-Miranda silence violated due process under Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610 and this error was sufficiently "prejudicial" to require reversal. The State Supreme Court reinstated the conviction, holding that the error was "`harmless beyond a reasonable doubt" under the standard set forth in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24. The Federal District Court disagreed and set aside the conviction