Ex Parte Staley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 10 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We need not, however, decide whether applicant’s claim was legally available at the time he filed his original writ because we conclude that his application does not “contain sufficient specific facts establishing that” his claim is cognizable even if Penny II, Tennard, and Smith created a new and previously unavailable legal claim.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Rocha v. Thaler · Balentine v. Thaler

2. “You are instructed that you shall consider in answering the special issues any evidence which in your opinion mitigates against the imposition of the death penalty. A mitigating circumstance may include, but is not limited to any aspect of the defendant's character, record, and the circumstances of the crime, which you believe could make a death penalty inappropriate in this case. Further, if you believe from the evidence that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the answers to the Special Issues are "yes” but you are further [persuaded] by the mitigating evidence that the defendant should not be sentenced to death in this case, then you shall answer one or both of the Special Issues "no" in order to give the effect to your belief that the death penalty should not be imposed in this case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ex Parte Hood

3. “the current claims and issues have not been and could not have been presented previously in a timely initial application or in a previously considered application filed under this article or Article 11.07 because the factual . . . basis for the claim was unavailable on the date the applicant filed the previous application[.] * * * [A] factual basis of a claim is unavailable on or before a date described by Subsection (a)(1) of the factual basis was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence on or before that date.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ex Parte Alba