State v. Gerlaugh’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 4 district · 75 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 83 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “There, the three men forced the victim out of his ear. Petitioner pointed the gun at Schwartz and demanded money. Schwartz grabbed the gun from petitioner. While attempting to escape, the victim pointed the gun at Leisure and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire. “You fucked up” petitioner exclaimed, “There’s no bullets in the gun.” The three men knocked Schwartz to the ground, where they beat and kicked him for ten to fifteen minutes. Petitioner then announced that they would have to kill Schwartz to prevent him from identifying them. Petitioner ordered Enemas and Leisure to hold Schwartz on the road so he could run the victim over with the car. The victim succeeded in dodging the car several times by diving into an adjoining canal. Petitioner finally ran over Schwartz with the victim’s Lincoln Continental and felt the impact of the victim’s body with the car. Petitioner ran over the victim two more times and struck the victim’s head with the car bumper at least one time. At one point, petitioner positioned the car’s left rear wheel on top of Schwartz and floored the accelerator. Although badly hurt, the victim was still alive and was writhing in pain on the roadside. He began to plead with his assailants to tell him the reason for their attack. Petitioner took a screwdriver from the rear of the car and stabbed the victim in the head, neck and shoulders at least twenty times. Leisure also stabbed the victim ten to twenty times. A pathologist testified that these various ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gerlaugh v. Stewart

2. “The Supreme Court has indicated that an attorney’s decisions concerning representation can properly be influenced by his client’s wishes. See Strickland v. Washington, supra, 466 U.S. at 690-93, 104 S.Ct. at 2066-67, 80 L.Ed.2d at 695-96. A defense attorney’s deference to his client is especially appropriate where the defendant has a privacy interest at stake. Cf 17 A.R.S. Rules of Criminal Procedure, rule 15.2(a)(8) (defendant cannot be forced to submit to a psychiatric or psychological examination). Defense counsel is obligated to insure that his client is aware of the consequences of such a decision. Petitioner has not, however, shown that trial counsel failed to render adequate advice regarding this decision. Additionally, the record reveals that trial counsel suggested to the trial court at sentencing that a psychiatric examination of petitioner would be helpful in deciding punishment. Trial counsel conceded, however, that failure to order such an examination would likely not constitute reversible error. The trial judge rejected this suggestion.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gerlaugh v. Stewart

3. “Petitioner had previously been convicted of armed robbery at the age of 17. Four days before the murder in this case, petitioner participated in a similar armed robbery, kidnapping, and attempted murder with codefendant Matthew Leisure. See State v. Gerlaugh [Memorandum Decision, No. 1 CA-CR 5309, filed June 10, 1982], Petitioner and Leisure forcibly entered the car of Tobin Gentry at gunpoint. After driving to an isolated desert location, the victim was forced to lie on his stomach. Petitioner told Leisure to “do a good job, make sure” and Leisure then pumped four bullets into the victim’s back.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gerlaugh v. Stewart