State v. Patten’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) that presenting a defense is not a simple matter of telling one’s story, but requires adherence to various technical rules governing the conduct of a trial; (2) that a lawyer has substantial experience and training in trial procedure and that the prosecution will be represented by an experienced attorney; (3) that a person unfamiliar with legal procedures may allow the prosecutor an advantage by failing to make objections to inadmissible evidence, may not make effective use of such rights as the voir dire of jurors, and may make tactical decisions that produce unintended consequences; (4) that a defendant proceeding pro se will not be allowed to complain on appeal about the competency of his representation; and (5) that the effectiveness of his defense may well be diminished by his dual role as attorney and accused.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Hirning · State v. Craig

2. “Court: Mr. Craig, as I said, I’m obligated to tell you certain points, and I would just like you to bear with me because the Supreme Court has indicated this is what needs to happen. So what you need to consider in deciding whether or not you want to represent yourself is that presenting a defense is not a simple matter of telling one’s story but requires adherence to various technical rules governing the conduct of a trial, in this case it would be governing the conduct of the sentencing hearing since the trial has already happened. That a lawyer has substantial experience and training in trial procedure and that the prosecution will be represented by an experienced attorney. That a person unfamiliar with legal procedures may allow the prosecutor an advantage by failing to make objections to admissible evidence, may not make effective use of such rights as the voir dire of jurors and may make technical decisions that produce unintended consequences. That a defendant proceeding pro se, meaning representing yourself, will not be allowed to complain on appeal about the competency of his representation, and finally that the effectiveness of his defense may well be diminished by his dual role as attorney and accused. Do you understand the information that I’ve just presented to you? Craig: Yes, but the jury was inflamed against me, I do understand, and it went undone. Court: So — given the caution that I’ve provided you today regarding the danger of representing yourself, is it s”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Craig