Alverson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 federal appellate · 33 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 41 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “must make a showing of need and show that he will be prejudiced by the lack of expert assistance”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Alverson v. Workman · Dowdy v. Com.

2. “Alverson’s co-defendant, Michael Wilson, worked at the QuikTrip convenience store located at 215 N. Garnett Road in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wilson, Alverson, and two of their friends, Richard Harjo and Darwin Brown, went to the QuikTrip during the early morning hours of February 26,1995. They chatted with Richard Yost, the night clerk, until the most opportune time arose for them to accost him and force him into the back cooler. They handcuffed him and tied his legs with duct tape. Alverson and Harjo went outside and returned with Harjo carrying a baseball bat. Yost was found beaten to death in a pool of blood, beer and milk. Part of a broken set of handcuffs was found near his right hip. The medical examiner found a pin from these handcuffs embedded in Yost’s skull during the autopsy. Two safes containing over $30,000.00 were stolen, as well as all the money from the cash register and the store’s surveillance videotape. All four defendants were arrested later that same day wearing new tennis shoes and carrying wads of cash. The stolen drop safe and the store surveillance videotape, as well as other damaging evidence, was found in a search of Alverson’s home. The baseball bat, the victim’s bloody Quick-Trip [sic] jacket, the other cuff from the set of broken handcuffs, and Wilson’s Nike jacket which matched the one he wore on the surveillance tape were taken from Wilson’s home.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Alverson v. Workman

3. “Alverson argues in the alternative that even if the evidence is sufficient to support the heinous, atrocious and cruel aggravator, it is legally insufficient to show he inflicted the serious physical abuse or intended that it take place. We disagree. The evidence showed Alverson was a substantial participant in the murder. He actively participated in the initial attack wherein the victim was dragged into the cooler. Alverson came out of the cooler to straighten up store merchandise that he and his cohorts had knocked off the shelves during the attack, then re-entered the cooler. Alverson actively participated in bringing the baseball bat, and arguably the handcuffs, into the cooler. Although Harjo carried the bat, Alverson led the way outside the store to retrieve it and back inside to the cooler. By introducing a dangerous weapon into the robbery, Alverson “created a desperate situation inherently dangerous to human life.” Moreover, Alverson was inside the cool er when some of the beating was administered. Accordingly, we find the evidence clearly showed that even if Alverson did not deliver the blows himself, he knew the murder was to take place and actively participated in it.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Alverson v. Workman