Gonzalez v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

30 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 30 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[E]ven if attorney Gonzalez[ 6 ] did not testify, but referred to his own recollection of the events through cross-examination, the State would have been prejudiced by the implication to the jury that his questions represented the truth based on his personal knowledge of what had occurred. The State would have been prejudiced by the inability to clarify counsel’s testimony and impeach counsel’s credibility. Counsel’s personal knowledge regarding the conversations with the State’s witness would have affected the jury’s perspective, not only on the witness tampering issue, but also on the credibility of the State’s key witness against appellant regarding the facts of the charged crime. Therefore, the confusion resulting from counsel’s dual roles would most likely have substantially affected the jury’s verdict. If the confusion were such that it would have prevented an impartial verdict from being reached, it could have resulted in a mistrial.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Sanchez · Johnson v. State

2. “(a) A lawyer shall not accept or continue employment as an advocate before a tribunal in a contemplated or pending adjudicatory proceeding if the lawyer knows or believes that the lawyer is or may be a witness necessary to establish an essential fact on behalf of the lawyer's client, unless: (1) the testimony relates to an uncontested issue; (2) the testimony will relate solely to a matter of formality and there is no reason to believe that substantial evidence will be offered in opposition to the testimony; (3) the testimony relates to the nature and value of legal services rendered in the case; (4) the lawyer is a party to the action and is appearing pro se; or (5) the lawyer has promptly notified opposing counsel that the lawyer expects to testify in the matter and disqualification of the lawyer would work substantial hardship on the client.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Steven Harry Powers v. State · Johnson v. State

3. “It is well settled that a party seeking to disqualify the opponent's attorney for violation of an ethical rule must demonstrate that such violation will result in actual prejudice to the moving party.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Johnson v. State