Hill v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 123 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 140 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “... defense counsel's complaint at this stage appears directed toward a trial strategy in which they were participants. What this amounts to is a trial strategy counsel aided and abetted, and now seek to criticize.”

   9 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Shavers v. State · 445 So. 2d 798 - Williams v. State

2. “Argument of appellant is that reversible error was made by the trial court when it failed to grant the following sentencing information requested by the defense: Instruction D-2: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I charge you that you need not find any mitigating circumstance in order to return a sentence of life imprisonment. A life sentence may be returned regardless of the evidence. The appellant contends that this refusal had the effect of denying the jury the right to sentence him according to their feelings of mercy. He maintains that the jury was left with the impression *Page 222 that they were bound to return a verdict that the appellant should suffer the death penalty if they found that aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances from the evidence presented. According to him, this would be tantamount to a mandatory application of the death penalty and contrary to the mandate of individualized consideration handed down by the United States Supreme Court in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 , 96 S.Ct. 2909 , 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976). We do not agree that the jury in the case in question was under any impression that they had no choice but to impose the death penalty. Their verdict was as follows: We, the Jury, unanimously find that the aggravating circumstances . . . outweigh the mitigating circumstances and are sufficient to impose the death penalty, and that there are insufficient mitigating circumstances to outweigh the aggravating circumstances. . ”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Johnson v. State · 454 So. 2d 445 - Billiot v. State

3. “I knew that the attorneys [for defendant] would attempt to place a heavy burden on you. They would have you believe that you’re voting to kill the Defendant and that he’s going to be taken outdoors here in ten minutes and hung. That’s not so, and they know that’s not so, and that’s unfair. That’s totally unfair. They know your word is not the last word. They know that.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hill v. Black · 449 So. 2d 756 - Wiley v. State