State v. Robinson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

32 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 32 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Assuming that you were on a jury which has found the defendant guilty of First Degree Murder, if that jury then at the sentencing phase, finds the existence of aggravating factors and finds that those factors outweigh any mitigating factors, and further finds that the aggravating factors are sufficiently substantial so as to call for the imposition of the death penalty, could that be your verdict in this case which would result in a judgment of death being imposed?”

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

2. “[I]f you were to . . . find during the sentencing hearing that the defendant had a previous first[-] degree murder conviction prior to the murders for which he is being sentenced this week, could you still follow the Court’s instructions and weigh the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and consider life imprisonment as a. sentencing option.”

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

3. “The question posed [in Robinson] does not amount to a proper inquiry as to whether the juror could follow the law as instructed by the trial judge. Rather, the question is an attempt to determine whether or not a juror will be unable to consider a life sentence once he or she learns that defendant had been convicted of a prior murder.”

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