Deck v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “PROSECUTOR: And wouldn’t it be easy or helpful to explain his behavior, if you had asked him why did you put a gun against these people’s head and kill them? DR. SURRATT: And it could have, yes. PROSECUTOR: It could have, but it also could have been pretty detrimental to Mr. Deck, if he had said, the reason I killed them is becmse I’m, a no-good, s.o.b. and wanted them dead, because I didn’t want to go to prison. That wouldn’t be a very good answer for Mr. Deck, would it? DR. SURRATT: It would have went along with my findings of how he responds to things; is it good or bad, not for me to say, but it certainly would have been fitting. PROSECUTOR: He wanting these people dead just because he wanted their money fits along with what you believe? COUNSEL TUCCI: Objection; asked and answered. THE COURT: Sustained; move on, please.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Deck v. Steele

2. “Because Movant is challenging counsel's failure to call certain witnesses during the penalty phase, a 'viable defense' is one in which there is a reasonable probability that the additional mitigating evidence those witnesses would have provided would have outweighed the aggravating evidence presented by the prosecutor resulting in the jury voting against the death penalty.”

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

3. “And I guess the question I want to ask you is that you’ll hear—I anticipate you’ll hear some evidence concerning [Movantj’s childhood, his upbringing. Is there anybody here, that if you start hearing evidence about troubled childhoods, things like that, it’s going to [ajffect your ability to be fair in this case, one way or the other?”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Deck v. Steele