Doan v. Brigano’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

50 federal appellate · 1 district · 8 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 101 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.”

   10 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Fowler v. Collins · Mitchell v. Mason

2. “[In Mattox , the Supreme Court] held that a matter “resting in the personal consciousness of one juror” may not be used to upset a jury’s verdict “because, being personal, it is not accessible to other testimony.” [Mattox, 146 U.S.] at 148, 13 S.Ct. 50 , 36 L.Ed. 917 . The Court stated that it would not give the “secret thoughts] of one [juror] the power to disturb the expressed conclusions of twelve.” Id. In sharp contrast to the secret thoughts of jurors, the Court held that juror testimony as to “overt acts” of misconduct can be considered because the remaining members of the jury can testify as to whether or not those acts of misconduct actually occurred. Id. at 148-49 , 13 S.Ct. 50 . The Court recognized that, by drawing this distinction, verifiable evidence of a jury’s consideration of extraneous prejudicial information could be considered by courts while still respecting the finality of jury verdicts by disallowing testimony as to the unverifiable thoughts of jurors. See id. at 148-49 , 13 S.Ct. 50 . Thus, the Supreme Court in Mattox held that, when addressing a motion for a new trial, courts should consider juror testimony concerning any overt acts of misconduct by which extraneous and potentially prejudicial information is presented to the jury, including juror testimony showing that a newspaper article relevant to the case was read aloud in the jury room.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Wood · Commonwealth v. Abnee

3. “A state court’s decision on a question of state law is adequate to support its judgment only if the “state law basis for the decision is sufficient by itself to support the judgment, regardless of whether the federal law issue is affirmed or reversed.” Erwin Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction § 10.5.2, at 619 (2d ed.1994). In this case, however, whether Ohio Evid. R. 606(B) is sufficient to support the state court of appeals’s judgment clearly depends upon whether the Rule conflicts with the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution. The Supremacy Clause states that the “Constitution ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” U.S. Const, art. VI, cl. 2. If Ohio Evid. R. 606(B) is contrary to the U.S. Constitution, it may not serve as the basis for the state court of appeals’s judgment. Thus, “[sjtate law obviously is not adequate to support the result when there is a claim that the state law itself violates the United States Constitution.” Chemerinsky, supra, § 10.5.2, at 619.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Clifton v. Carpenter