Sims v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The problem with the instruction is not as much with the extra comma as it is with the inclusion of the language after the first comma, which pertains only to the use of deadly force and has no place in the instruction on justifiable use of non-deadly force. Where, as here, the defendant is only asserting the defense of justifiable use of non-deadly force, the instruction might be better stated by substituting a period for the first comma and omitting the remainder of the language [so that the correct instruction would read]: “A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is in a place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to meet force with force.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bryant Daniel Neal v. State of Florida · 154 So. 3d 1161 - Martin v. State

2. “Second, unlike Talley , the prosecutor in this case did not rely on the erroneous instruction in closing argument. The prosecutor merely argued the facts in evidence and encouraged the jury to find Appellant’s testimony unreliable. Cf. Talley, 106 So.3d at 1017 (suggesting that the error in the instructions “may have been harmless” if the prosecutor had not highlighted the error in closing argument); see also [Rangel v. State, 132 So.3d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) ] (rejecting claim of fundamental error based upon the same extra comma in the standard instruction for the justifiable use of deadly force and noting that the prosecutor’s closing argument on the issue was merely a comment on the evidence); [Bradley v. State, 127 So.3d 806 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)] (distinguishing Talley where the prosecutor provided a correct explanation of the law of self-defense in closing arguments). Third, Appellant agreed to the standard instruction on the justifiable use of non-deadly force as read to the jury. Although that does not necessarily foreclose a claim of fundamental error, see Moore v. State, 114 So.3d 486, 493 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), this court has explained that: where defense counsel agrees to a standard jury instruction and then challenges the conviction based upon fundamental error in that instruction, reversal would have the unintended consequence of encouraging defense counsel to ‘stand mute and, if necessary, agree to an .erroneous instruction’ or sacrifice his client’s opportunity for”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bryant Daniel Neal v. State of Florida

3. “IN A CASE WHERE THE DEFENDANT’S SOLE DEFENSE IS SELF-DEFENSE AND THERE IS A DISPUTE AS TO WHETHER THE DEFENDANT OR THE VICTIM WAS THE INITIAL AGGRESSOR, DOES A TRIAL COURT COMMIT FUNDAMENTAL ERROR BY INSTRUCTING THE JURY BOTH (1) THAT THE DEFENDANT DID NOT HAVE A DUTY TO RETREAT AND THAT HE COULD MEET FORCE WITH DEADLY FORCE IF HE REASONABLY BELIEVED THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO DO SO TO PREVENT DEATH OR GREAT BODILY HARM TO HIMSELF, AND (2) THAT THE DEFENDANT’S USE OF DEADLY FORCE WAS NOT JUSTIFIABLE IF HE WAS THE INITIAL AGGRESSOR UNLESS HE EXHAUSTED EVERY REASONABLE MEANS TO ESCAPE THE DANGER OTHER THAN USING DEADLY FORCE?”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. John Swearingden v. State of Florida