Hutchison v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

58 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 60 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “To prove ineffective assistance for failure to call a witness, the defendant must show that: '(1) trial counsel knew or should have known of the existence of the witness; (2) the witness could be located through reasonable investigation; (3) the witness would testify; and (4) the witness's testimony would have produced a viable defense.'”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lance C. Shockley v. State of Missouri · Anderson v. State

2. “) (quotation omitted). The decision not to call a witness is presumptively a matter of strategy and”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jones v. State · Duncan v. State

3. “First, the defendant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction ... resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable.”

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