Pyatt v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

40 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 40 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “the constitutional guarantee of due process is not concerned with mere appearances of partiality. To the contrary, due process is concerned with actual bias, see Caperton [v. A. T. Massey Coal Co.], 556 U. S. [868,] 883 (III) [( 129 SCt 2252 , 173 LE2d 1208) (2009)], and absent a showing of actual bias, due process requires recusal only in particular circumstances in which “the probability of actual bias on the part of the judge or decisionmaker is too high to be constitutionally tolerable.” Id. at 872.”

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

2. “To hold otherwise would be to sanction gamesmanship .... The idea that a party could allow a judge whom the party believes to be disqualified to continue to preside over the case without objection, only later to urge the disqualification, is inconsistent with the principles of fair play and judicial economy that are embodied in the requirement that a motion to recuse be filed promptly.”

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

3. “[a]lthough it may have been improper for [the detective] to share his subjective belief [that Appellant would go to prison] with the jury explicitly, any rational juror would have guessed that [the detective] believed as much without being told. As we have explained before, "[s]uch comments upon the patently obvious generally pose little, if any, danger of prejudice."”

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