Wilburn Jerome Gerberding v. Harold R. Swenson, Warden’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 federal appellate · 7 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““. . . The Burgett case, while it started out as a recidivist trial, did not end up as one, and the court there only determined that convictions called to the attention of the jury, but not admitted into evidence, were prejudicial. It does appear that the State is being unduly faulted for a trial error made at a time when it was constitutionally permissible under Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 , 62 S.Ct. 1252 , 86 L.Ed. 1595 (1942), to use a conviction obtained against a defendant who was not represented by counsel. Under the factual situation of the instant case, where two other valid prior felony convictions were proved to the jury, it clearly appears that Ger-berding was not prejudiced by the use of the now constitutionally infirm earlier conviction. The two admittedly valid prior convictions were more than sufficient to call for application of the enhanced penalty. . . . As to whether or not the use of the invalid conviction was so inherently prejudicial as to affect the substantive guilt-finding process, this case would appear to be a proper one for the application of the ‘harmless error’ rule. . . .””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Hurtt