People v. Dunn’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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. “undermine the trial court’s credibility determinations and [ ] discount the variety of [subjective] factors and considerations, including prospective juror’s body language or manner of answering questions, which legitimately inform a trial lawyer’s decision to exercise peremptory challenges. [ ][C]omparative analysis to evaluate the bona fides of a prosecutor’s stated reasons for peremptory challenges does not take into account the many considerations which go into an attorney’s decision to select certain jurors while challenging others who appear to be similar. Trial lawyers recognize that it is a combination of factors rather than any single one which often leads to the exercise of a peremptory challenge. In addition, the particular combination or mix of jurors which a lawyer seeks may, and often does, change as certain jurors are removed or seated in the jury box. It may be acceptable, for example, to have one juror with a particular point of view but unacceptable to have more than one with that view[.] [T]he same factors used in evaluating a juror may be given different weight depending on the number of peremptory challenges the lawyer has at the time [ ] and the number of challenges remaining with the other side. Near the end of the voir dire process a lawyer will naturally be more cautious about “spending” his [ ] challenges. [ ] It should be apparent, therefore, that the very dynamics of the jury selection process make it difficult, if not impossible, on a cold record ”

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