Sellers v. State’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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “For the phrase “in- the course of and in furtherance of the felony” to have any meaning, the burglary must have an independent objective which the murder facilitates. In this instance, the burglary and murder have the same objective. That objective, the intent to kill, is what makes the underlying act of entry into the home a burglary. The burglary was actually no more than one step toward the commission of the murder and was not to facilitate the murder.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Craig v. State · Allen v. State

2. “While we can appreciate the state’s argument that intent to commit assault and battery differs from intent to commit murder, we cannot find a way to say that the murder facilitated the burglary if the assault and battery were the underlying offenses. We cannot say that the murder facilitated the assault and battery as it was the very culmination of them. It was, therefore,, error to have permitted the jury to find Sellers guilty of capital murder on the basis that it was committed in the course of burglary because the jury was not allowed to consider the robbery or any purpose for the entry of Mr. Byrd’s home independent of the acts which resulted in his death.”

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