Ferrell v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1991
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 67 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 71 later decisions — most recently March 2019 · most notably Crowe v. State (1995), Whatley v. State (1998)
2 federal appellate · 67 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Strickland v. Washington · Jackson v. Virginia · Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · Terry v. Ohio · Kentucky v. Stincer
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 71 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Trial counsel interviewed numerous potential witnesses in mitigation, many of whose names had been furnished by the defendant. Only a very few could say anything favorable on the defendant’s behalf, and these testified at the trial. Although we do not find deficient attorney performance, we also note that Ferrell has not since the trial discovered witnesses whose testimony, if presented at the sentencing phase of the trial, in reasonable probability would ■ have caused the sentencer to conclude ■ that the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death. Ferrell has not shown he was denied effective assistance of counsel.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Ferrell v. Head“It is not necessary to address specifically and individually each and every one of these numerous instances of challenged trial tactics. It is sufficient to note that strategic choices made after thorough investigation are virtually unchallengeable. The trial court found, and the evidence supports the finding, that trial counsel thoroughly investigated the case and prepared for trial. Ferrell has shown nothing that would demonstrate that his trial attorneys failed to exercise reasonable professional judgment in their handling of the case.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Ferrell v. Head“Ferrell was represented by two experienced public defenders, one of whom had spent nine years as a criminal prosecutor. They filed numerous pre-trial motions, investigated the case legally and factually, conducted an extensive voir dire examination of prospective jurors, cross-examined state’s witnesses, presented defense witnesses, and delivered substantial closing arguments..”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Ferrell v. Head
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.