4 Ark. App. 135 - Ford v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1982
Citation profile
26 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 27 later decisions — most recently January 2018 · most notably Duncan v. State (1987), Arthur v. Zearley (1995)
26 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Boling v. Gibson · Dingledine v. Dingledine · Enzor v. State · Watson v. Alford · Sheffield v. Heslep
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 27 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The general rule is clear and unmistakable. A lawyer shall not act as advocate at a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a necessary witness. The reasoning underlying the general rule is to prevent prejudice and a conflict of interest. The professional judgment of a lawyer should be exercised, within the bounds of the law, solely for the benefit of his client and free of compromising influences and loyalties. Conversely, a witness is to tell the truth without loyalty to either party and without regard to which side his testimony might favor. Combining the dissimilar roles of attorney and witness can prejudice the opposing party and can involve a conflict of interest between the lawyer and his client. The court of appeals has written that: There are several reasons for the general rule. First, because of interest or the appearance of interest in the outcome of the trial, the advocate who testifies at trial may be subject to impeachment and the evidentiary effect of his testimony will be weakened, thus harming his client. Second, opposing counsel may be handicapped in cross-examining and arguing the credibility of trial counsel who also acts as a witness. Third, an advocate who becomes a witness may be in the unseemly position of arguing his own credibility. Fourth, the roles of advocate and witness are inconsistent and should not be assumed by one individual. Last, the attorney should not act as both trial counsel and a material witness because of the appearance of improp”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.