State v. McLemore’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “[i]nformative factors include but are not limited to [1] a consideration of the defendant's opportunities to remind the court of a pending motion, [2] defense counsel's awareness of the motion, [3] any affirmative conduct by the defendant that would run counter to a desire for self-representation, [4] whether the defendant waited until after a conviction to complain about the court's failure to rule on his or her motion (thus indicating the defendant was gaming the system), and [5] the defendant's experience in the criminal justice system and with waiving counsel.”

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

2. “[A]n erroneous failure to accord a defendant his properly asserted right to represent himself when he is competent to waive counsel in a criminal case is structural error requiring reversal without a showing of prejudice.”

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

3. “[C]ompetence to waive the constitutional right to counsel is the primary restriction on the free-exercise of self-representation.”

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