Mathis v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “That ground of the petition assailing § 318, Title 14 of the Code of Alabama, proceeds upon the theory that it provides no separate proceedings and the opportunity given the defendant to present evidence of the issue of sentence separately from testimony as to his guilt. No case is cited in support of such a procedure. We are asked to prescribe a course of trial procedure which has not been undertaken by our lawmakers * * *. While Witherspoon v. State of Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 , 88 S.Ct. 1770 , 20 L.Ed.2d 776 , reflects the individual repugnance of the writer of the opinion toward the death penalty, there has been by the Supreme Court of the United States no firm holding of invalidity of statutes authorizing the death penalty, nor has that court gone to the extent of requiring separate hearings on the questions of guilt and sentence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 237 So. 2d 445 - Capler v. State