Shaw v. State’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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““[T]he weighing process is not a factual determination or an element of an offense; instead, it is a moral or legal judgment that takes into account a theoretically limitless set of facts and .that cannot be reduced to a scientific formula or the discovery of a discrete, observable datum. See California v. Ramos, 463 U.S. 992, 1008 , 103 S.Ct. 3446 , 77 L.Ed.2d 1171 (1983) (‘Once the jury finds that the defendant falls within the legislatively defined category of persons eligible. for the death penalty, ... the jury then is free to consider a myriad of factors to determine whether death is the appropriate punishment.’); Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 902 , 103 S.Ct. 2733 , 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983) (Rehnquist, J., concurring in the judgment) (‘sentencing decisions rest on a. far-reaching inquiry into countless, facts and circumstances and not on the type of proof of particular elements that returning a conviction does’).””

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

2. “'Gates' other challenge to the videotaped confession is that its admission was unduly prejudicial because it portrayed him in handcuffs. As we have noted previously, although the handcuffs are not always visible, it is evident throughout the fifteen-minute tape that the defendant is handcuffed. We are aware of no cases which address the propriety of handcuffing during a videotaped confession. Nonetheless, the resolution of the issue is apparent from earlier cases addressing handcuffing in and around trials. " 'The principal difficulty arising from shackling or handcuffing a defendant at trial is that it tends to negate the presumption of innocence by portraying the defendant as a bad or dangerous person. The Supreme Court has referred to shackling during trial as an "inherently prejudicial practice”

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

3. ““[Parks] alleges that his constitutional protection against double jeopardy was violated when he was tried and convicted of counts one and two of his indictment for murder wherein two or more persons are murdered by one act or pursuant to one course or scheme of conduct when both counts reflect the murder of the same two people. We agree with his argument that counts one and two of his indictment represented the death of two persons committed by one act or course of conduct and merely reversed the order of the victim’s names in each count.... See, e.g., Hardy v. State, 920 So.2d 1117, 1121-22 (Ala.Crim.App. 2005); Perkins v. State, 897 So.2d 457, 461-62 (Ala.Crim.App.2004).””

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