230 Md. App. 214 - State v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “THE COURT: All right. Now, before I can accept your plea, I have to be satisfied that the State actually has a factual basis for this, that they are not whistling in the wind, that there are basic elements that they would have proven if the matter had gone to trial. Have a seat. Get yourself together. Listen to what [the prosecutor] says the State would have proven had this matter gone to trial. [PROSECUTOR]: Your Honor, thank you. Just briefly, before that I have a housekeeping matter. I would like to add that despite the range, the 90 and 30 days, it is contemplated this would be a binding plea, therefore, it can only be modified in the future if both parties agree. THE COURT: Are you saying that if the Defendant is sentenced within the parameters of—first of all, are you asking the Court to bind itself to the 5-year cap? [PROSECUTOR]: To the range. THE COURT: 90-day cap. [PROSECUTOR]: Yes, sir. THE COURT: Or 30-day cap. [PROSECUTOR]: Yes. THE COURT: I have to hear the facts before I’m willing to do that. Okay, number one. And number two, are you saying that the Defendant is prohibited from asking for reconsideration? [PROSECUTOR]: No. They are not prohibited from asking. But before the motion can be granted, both sides would have to agree.”

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

2. “[PROSECUTOR]: It would be a plea to Count 1, which is theft scheme greater than $10,000 but less than $100,000. In exchange for the guilty plea, there is a ceiling and a floor. The State would be allowed to argue for 5 years, suspend all but 90 days, 5 years supervised probation, and restitution in the amount of $47,460.02. THE COURT: $47,000. [PROSECUTOR]: $460.02. And the defense [is] free to argue for as little as 5 years, suspend all but 30 days, followed by 5 years supervised probation and also the restitution in the $47,460.02. [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: [Prosecutor], didn’t we talk about I can ask for weekends? [PROSECUTOR]: That is correct. The defense is free to argue that she serve weekends. But, no, we didn’t talk about home detention, just weekends.”

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

3. “A plea agreement is, of course, a contract between a criminal defendant and the State in which each seeks to gain a benefit and, in return for such benefit, each agrees to pay a price. It is a very special contract, moreover, in that even after the basic quid pro quo is agreed upon by the primary contracting parties, the entire package may be submitted to a criminal court for its approval and its subsequent enforcement. If it should then be the enforcing authority (to wit, the court) that commits a breach of the contract, what evenhanded justice requires is that each of the primary contracting parties, if suffering from the breach, is equally entitled to seek a remedy under equally conducive procedural conditions.”

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