Long v. Brewer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “As we said in Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. [742], at 756-757, 90 S.Ct. [1463], at 1473-1474, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 , [at 761], the decision to plead guilty before the evidence is in frequently involves the making of difficult judgments. All the pertinent facts normally cannot be known unless witnesses are examined and cross-examined in court. Even then the truth will often be in dispute. In the face of unavoidable uncertainty, the defendant and his counsel must make their best judgment as to the weight of the State’s case. * * * [A] decision to plead guilty must necessarily rest upon counsel’s answers, uncertain as they may be. Waiving trial entails the inherent risk that the good-faith evaluations of a reasonably competent attorney will turn out to be mistaken either as to the facts or as to what a court’s judgment might be on given facts.”

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

2. “[Long] met Bonnie Johnson at "Bud” Dennis's tavern. They later decided to go fishing.... The two [went fishing] ... [in] a secluded place.... Both had been drinking quite a bit, and ... [they] began fooling around with each other. He removed Bonnie’s toreador pants and underpants!,] but at this point Bonnie acted as though she did not want to have intercourse. While Bonnie was sitting with her feet over the bank, [Long] struck her with an object along the right side of the head. He knocked Bonnie out, then ripped off her brassiere and used it as a gag.... [He] tied her hands behind her back. After having tied the woman[J he ... cut her breasts, stomach and hips and lastly cut her throat with his fishing knife. [Long] then attempted to have intercourse with her and thereafter dumped the body into the river.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 877 F. Supp. 1358 - Long v. Nix

3. “The [Supreme] Court has placed a very heavy burden on one alleging incompetent advice, declining to find it even where both the defendant and his counsel were unaware at the time the plea was entered of substantial material facts or defenses. —Zacek v. Brewer, supra, 241 N.W.2d at 49 , quoting United States v. Bluso, 519 F.2d 473, 474 (4th Cir. 1975)”

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