State v. Otey’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 4 district · 44 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 57 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) Aggravating Circumstances: (a) The offender was previously convicted of another murder or a crime involving the use or threat of violence to the person, or has a substantial history of serious assaultive or terrorizing criminal activity; (b) The murder was committed in an apparent effort to conceal the commission of a crime, or to conceal the identity of the perpetrator of a crime; (c) The murder was committed for hire, or for pecuniary gain, or the defendant hired another to commit the murder for the defendant; (d) The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or manifested exceptional depravity by ordinary standards of morality and intelligence; (e) At the time the murder was committed, the offender also committed another murder; (f) The offender knowingly created a great risk of death to at least several persons; (g) The victim was a law enforcement officer or a public servant having custody of the offender or another; or (h) The crime was committed to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of any governmental function or the enforcement of the laws. (2) Mitigating Circumstances: (a) The offender has no significant history of prior criminal activity; (b) The offender acted under unusual pressures or influences or under the domination of another person; (c) The crime was committed while the offender was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance; (d) The age of the defendant at the time of the crime; (e) The offender was an accomplice in the cr”

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

2. “The balancing of aggravating circumstances against mitigating circumstances is not merely a matter of number counting but, rather, requires a careful weighing and examination of the various factors. State v. Ryan, 233 Neb. 74 , 444 N.W.2d 610 (1989); State v. Joubert, 224 Neb. 411 , 399 N.W.2d 237 (1986). As we observed in State v. Stewart, 197 Neb. 497, 518 , 250 N.W.2d 849, 862 (1977), quoting State v. Dixon, 283 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1973): “ ‘It must be emphasized that the procedure to be followed by the trial judges and juries is not a mere counting process of X number of aggravating circumstances and Y number of mitigating circumstances, but rather a reasoned judgment as to what factual situations require the imposition of death and which can be satisfied by life imprisonment in light of the totality of the circumstances present____’ ””

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

3. “`[a] motion for postconviction relief cannot be used to secure review of issues which were or could have been litigated on direct appeal, no matter how those issues may be phrased or rephrased.'”

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