State v. Payne’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

116 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 116 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake, entrapment or accident.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Walters · State v. Ocasio

2. “We previously have held that evidence about parole eligibility is not relevant in a capital sentencing proceeding because it does not reveal anything about defendant’s character or record or about any circumstances of the offense. The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Simmons v. South Carolina, [512] U.S. [154], 129 L. Ed. 2d 133 (1994), does not affect our prior rulings on this issue. There, the Court ruled that a sentencing jury must be informed that a defendant is parole ineligible when the State argues to the jury for the death penalty based on the premise that the defendant will be dangerous in the future. The Court, however, noted that where a defendant is eligible for parole, “[s]tates reasonably may conclude that truthful information regarding the availability of commutation, pardon, and the like, should be kept from the jury in order to provide ‘greater protection in [the States’] criminal justice system than the Federal Constitution requires.’ ” Id. at [168], 129 L. Ed. 2d at 145 (quoting California v. Ramos, 463 U.S. 992, 1014 , 77 L. Ed. 2d 1171, 1189 (1983)); see also State v. Bacon, 337 N.C. 66, 97-98 , 446 S.E.2d 542, 558-59 , (1994). Here, defendant would have been eligible for parole had he been given a life sentence. We continue to adhere to our prior rulings on this issue. This assignment of error is overruled.”

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

3. “review the record to determine (1) whether the record supports the jury’s finding of the aggravating circumstance[s] upon which the sentencing court based its sentence of death; (2) whether the sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor; and (3) whether the sentence of death is “excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant.””

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