State v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 86 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 90 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Q. * * * could you give your impressions as to Joe Clarence Smith as to whether he would, in your opinion, be mentally ill? A. It’s my opinion that he is mentally disturbed, yes. ****** I feel that Mr. Smith fills more the category of a, I would say almost a border-type psychotic person, with an abnormal psycho-sexual development, very strong neurotic traits, as I stated, almost bordering on psychotic traits, which drives him to compulsory aberrant actions. Unfortunately, often highly deviant and violent of nature. ****** Q. So you were familiar with the type of the deaths of each girl were committed, the suffocation by stuffing dirt in their mouths and stabbing repeatedly in the pubic area and the breast area? A. I was familiar with that, yes. Q. Would that type of killing itself be any indication of any kind of mental disorder? A. Not absolutely necessarily so. ****** Q. * * * ‘would his capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was significantly impaired but not so impaired as to constitute a defense to prosecution. Such as definite insanity defense. Do you think that he would be such a situation where he wouldn’t be able to conform his conduct because of — he was any way significantly impaired because of his mental disorder? A. * * * I think this man was compulsion — in a compulsionary manner driven to commit a series of acts which are based on very disturbed-type of psycho-dynamics, inner conflicts. *****”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Smith

2. ““[T]he state has an obligation pursuant to rule 15.1 [17 A.R.S. Rules of Criminal Procedure] to disclose such information not in its possession or under its control if the state has better access to the information; if the defendant shows that it has made a good faith effort to obtain the information without success; and if the information has been specifically requested by the defendant.” State v. Smith, 123 Ariz. 231, 239 , 599 P.2d 187, 195 (1979).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Schad

3. ““When a person is charged with a capital offense the court * * * shall upon application of the defendant and a showing that the defendant is financially unable to pay for such services, appoint such investigators and expert witnesses as are reasonably necessary adequately to present his defense at trial * *”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Greenawalt