United States v. Midgett’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 federal appellate · 1 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““[The defendant] had apparently been consistent in his interviews with his lawyer that a third person committed the [c]ount [o]ne crime and that he did not. Defense counsel’s responsibility to his client was not dependent on whether he personally believed [the defendant], nor did it depend on the amount of proof supporting or contradicting [the defendant’s] anticipated testimony regarding how the incident happened. In this situation, [the defendant] never indicated to his attorney that his testimony would be perjurious. Thus, his lawyer had a duty to assist [him] in putting his testimony before the jury, which would necessarily include his help in [the defendant’s] direct examination. [Whiteside,] 475 U.S. at 189 , [ 89 L. Ed. 2d at 149 ,] 106 S. Ct. [at 1005] (Blackmun, J., concurring) (‘Except in the rarest of cases, attorneys who adopt the role of the judge or jury to determine the facts pose a danger of depriving their clients of the zealous and loyal advocacy required by the [s]ixth [a]mendment’. (internal quotation marks, citations, and punctuation omitted)). Defense counsel’s mere belief, albeit a strong one supported by other evidence, was not a sufficient basis to refuse [the defendant’s] need for assistance in presenting his own testimony.” Midgett, 342 F.3d at 326 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 351 Ill. App. 3d 1072 - People v. Calhoun