State v. Tisthammer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Even if Defendant had appeared with counsel before the grand jury, the role an attorney can play in that proceeding is so limited that Defendant has not shown the requisite degree of prejudice. In short, we are at a loss as to how the presence of counsel could have changed the grand jury’s vote. An attorney appearing with a target witness before the grand jury can only advise the witness. See [N.M. Stat. Ann.] § 31-6-4(C). The attorney cannot object to questions, cannot speak to the prosecutor or to the grand jury members, and when advising the target witness, must take care that the attorney is not overheard. See id. Moreover, a grand jury hearing does not determine guilt or innocence, but rather only makes a probable cause determination. It would require sheer speculation for us to hold that, had counsel been present with Defendant during his testimony, the grand jury would not have returned an indictment. Defendant argues that he was prejudiced because his attorney could have presented an alibi or submitted questions for the prosecutor to ask if his attorney had been present with him in the grand jury room. However, even at trial, Defendant never presented an alibi. Moreover, Defendant was able to consult with Harden prior to testifying. Harden also spoke to the prosecutor and asked what questions would be asked and requested some questions for the prosecutor to ask. In accordance with Harden’s request, the prosecutor asked Defendant to explain Chavez’s motive for implicat”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Tisthammer v. Williams

2. “This standard requires us to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, resolving all conflicts and indulging all reasonable inferences in support of the jury's verdict. Additionally, circumstantial evidence may be used to establish a conspiracy. Generally, the agreement is a matter of inference from the facts and circumstances.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Martinez