Tracy v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

43 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 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is well settled in Maryland that only one sentence can be imposed for a single common law conspiracy no matter how many criminal acts the conspirators have agreed to commit. The unit of prosecution is the agreement or combination rather than each of its criminal objectives. In Mason v. State, 302 Md. 434, 445 , 488 A.2d 955, 960 (1985), we stated that a ‘conspiracy remains one offense regardless of how many repeated violations of the law may have been the object of the conspiracy.’ ””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Jordan v. State · Henry v. State

2. ““[T]he proper remedy for an improper joinder is a severance, not a dismissal. Tracy knew that the additional charges were ‘joined’ for trial with the prior charges, but he never asked for a severance. The only relief he requested was dismissal of the indictment charging counts 5 through 10. He was not entitled to have the indictment dismissed even if we assume it was improperly joined for trial with another charging document. By failing to specifically request a severance of counts 5 through 10, Tracy waived any right to a severance. ‘A defendant can lose his rights under joinder and severance law by failing to assert them in a timely fashion. This is true even in the instances of misjoinder____’ 2 W. LaFave & J. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 17.3(d), at 378 (1984).””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Fish Market Nominee Corp. v. G.A.A. Inc.

3. “[t]he State contended] that the evidence established two separate criminal conspiracies between Tracy and [Jordan], The first was that Jordan would kill Purman with a knife, and they would take Purman’s car and drive it west. The second conspiracy occurred during the commission of the crimes when Jordan was unable to stab Purman; the State contended] that at that time there was a new agreement that Tracy would carry out the murder and robbery with a gun.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 212 Md. App. 1 - Savage v. State