Paulding v. Allen’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 2 district ·

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

1. “The doctrine of felony-murder provides that “the conduct which constitutes the felony must be ‘separate from the acts of personal violence which constitute a necessary part of the homicide itself.’ ” Absent this requirement, the assault that precedes every killing would serve as the predicate for felony-murder in the first degree, and the distinction between degrees of murder would be lost. Whether a particular felony is sufficiently independent from a killing to support a felony-murder conviction is a question that defies categorical analysis; we therefore review claims of merger on a “case-by-case basis with reference to specific facts.” In the case of an armed assault in a dwelling, merger occurs when “the acts constituting that assault also cause the homicide.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 383 F. Supp. 2d 247 - Kilburn v. Maloney

2. “Assuming arguendo that a due process claim [for failure to give a lesser included offense jury instruction] remains viable under federal habeas corpus, the most that a noncapital defendant could assert under the Supreme Court’s precedent is that a lesser included offense instruction is required if warranted by the evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 844 F. Supp. 2d 187 - Garcia v. Russo