Allen v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 34 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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Some constitutional rights are so basic to a fair trial that their violation “can never be treated as harmless.” Gomez v. United States, 490 U.S. 858 (1989). Examples are the right to counsel, see Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 88 (1988), and the right for a grand jury proceeding to be free of racial discrimination. Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254 (1986). In Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497, 502 (1987), the opinion of the court states that the harmless error inquiry is appropriate only when the trial was not fundamentally unfair. Quite probably one’s right to be informed of a charge is that type of fundamental right that cannot be reviewed for harmless error since the right to notice of a charge is “so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental.” Schad v. Arizona,__ U.S._, 111 S. Ct. 2491, 2497 (1991) (quoting Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513, 524 (1958)).”

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

2. “The proof showed that appellant fired a pistol when he killed the victim. At trial, the State contended that firing the pistol constituted the underlying felony of aggravated assault, and on that basis the trial court gave the felony-murder instruction. That was a misconstruction of the felony-murder statute. Under the first degree felony-murder statute, “a person commits murder in the first degree if... he commits ... a felony, and in the course of and in the furtherance of the felony . . . causes the death of any person . . . .” Ark. Code Ann. 5-10-102 (Supp. 1991). The assault in this case was only in the furtherance of the murder, not of some other felony. ... In sum, under the proof, the appellant would not be guilty of felony-murder even if he were so charged.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Craig v. State

3. “Under the capital murder statute, Ark. Code Ann. 5-10-101 (Supp. 1991), there are two types of capital murder. One is the premeditated and deliberate killing of a person, and the other is the killing of a person in the course of one of several enumerated felonies. Appellant was charged only with premeditated and deliberate capital murder. This kind of premeditated capital murder charge includes the lesser charge of purposeful first degree murder. Appellant was not charged with the other kind of capital murder, often termed felony-murder.”

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