Howard v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “). The burden was on Kerley to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his counsel's decisions not to question his sister at trial about M.L.'s alleged recantation, not to call his brother to testify about M.L.'s alleged recantation, and not to call his daughter to refute M.L.'s allegation of abuse on her ninth birthday were not the result of reasonable strategy. However, because Kerley did not call his trial counsel to testify at the evidentiary hearing, the record is silent as to the reasons for counsel's actions in this regard. Where”

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

2. “If the record is silent as to the reasoning behind counsel's actions, the presumption of effectiveness is sufficient to deny relief on [an] ineffective assistance of counsel claim.”

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