Weekley v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 17 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The qualifications of grand jurors are fixed by law. . . . The accused may attack the legal qualifications of a grand juror, either by challenging an individual juror on the ground that the jury is not legally qualified, or by motion to dismiss the indictment because of a lack of legal qualifications of an individual juror. [Emphasis in original; footnotes omitted.] Challenges for bias, or for any cause other than lack of legal qualifications, are unknown as concerns grand jurors. No provision is made for peremptory challenges of grand jurors and no such challenges are permitted. Likewise no voir dire examination exists in respect to grand jurors. In other words, the status of a member of a grand jury may not be questioned except for lack of legal qualifications. The basic theory of the functions of a grand jury does not require that grand jurors should be impartial and unbiased. . A grand jury does not pass on the guilt or innocence of the defendant, but merely determines whether he should be brought to trial. It is purely an accusatory body. . . [Id. at 20-21; emphasis supplied.]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Reed v. United States

2. ““ * * * The question before us is whether the statements were made voluntarily; if they were, failure to provide counsel or to inform defendants of their right to remain silent does not require a reversal.””

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