Meyer v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “On June 19,1997, Meyer was arrested for the offenses made the basis of these prosecutions. From that point forward he has been incarcerated. The court appointed an attorney to represent him on July 3, 1997. There was some delay in having a trial, and on October 6, 1998, his attorney filed a motion for a speedy trial in each cause. Each motion requested that the court “set this matter for trial forthwith,” relief which the court ultimately granted. In early December 1998, Meyer wrote a letter to the court himself “asking that a trial date be set.” The court acted on this request, writing in the margin of the letter “[Prosecuting Attorney], I want this case tried or disposed of ASAP,” and directing that a copy of the letter be sent to the prosecuting attorney. Four and one-half months after his letter, on April 23, 1999, Meyer filed a pro se motion to dismiss the indictments, asserting his speedy trial right in each case. Within a week of these motions, a judge was appointed to preside over Meyer’s trial, set to commence on May 17, 1999. On May 18, at the start of his trial, the court denied Meyer’s pro se motions.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 291 F. Supp. 2d 471 - Meyer v. Dretke

2. “As to the first issue, “[w]hat is dispos-itive of ‘this consideration’ is that [Meyer] was incarcerated during the entire [twenty-three] month delay.” ... [T]he twenty-three month period which Meyer spent in jail awaiting trial constitutes oppressive pretrial incarceration. On the second consideration, minimizing his pretrial anxiety and concern, he asserted in both his December 1998 letter and his April 1999 motions that he was suffering from “undue anxiety” and depression. Given the oppressive nature of his pretrial incarceration, we believe that his uneontradicted assertions in his written submissions to the court establish that Meyer unduly suffered from the delay.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 291 F. Supp. 2d 471 - Meyer v. Dretke

3. “The question is close. The delay, twenty-three months, borders on excessive, especially in light of the fact that Meyer was incarcerated the entire time. No valid reason for the delay has been proved by the State, and Meyer properly asserted his speedy trial right. However, the prejudice caused to him by the delay is minimal, and he has not shown that any of the prejudice he suffered flowed from an impairment to his defense. Balancing these factors, we conclude on the record before us that Meyer was not denied his right to a speedy trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 291 F. Supp. 2d 471 - Meyer v. Dretke