Clark v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Trial courts are often faced with jurors who have close relationships with parties in both civil and criminal cases. We have confidence that trial courts can ascertain whether a juror is partial because of a [lawyer-client] relationship with [one party’s attorney] just as well as the trial court can determine bias arising from other sources. A per se rule cuts too broadly and is inconsistent with the traditional discretion given trial courts in this area. Furthermore, there are various close and confidential relationships that a juror may have with a party [or attorney] and the establishment of a per se rule to the [lawyer-client] relationship will open the door to the expansion of the per se rule to these other numerous categories. Finally, a [broader] per se rule may render it extremely difficult to obtain a full panel... in some rural counties.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Moore v. Moore

2. “On appeal, our inquiry is whether the trial court's qualification or disqualification of the prospective juror is supported by the record as a whole. An appellate court must pay deference to the finding of the trial court; this deference includes the trial court's resolution of any equivocations or conflicts in the prospective juror's responses on voir dire. Whether to strike a juror for cause is within the discretion of the trial court and the trial court's rulings are proper absent some manifest abuse of discretion.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 350 Ga. App. 340 - ADAMS v. the STATE.