Hamilton v. Mullin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 federal appellate · 1 district · 1 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) the prosecution [sought] the death penalty; (2) the prosecution place[d] the defendant’s future dangerousness at issue; (3) the jury ask[ed] for clarification of the meaning of life imprisonment, or a synonymous statutory term; and (4) the judge’s response threaten[ed] to cause a jury’s misunderstanding so the jury [could] perceive a false choice of incarceration when future dangerousness [wa]s at issue.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Littlejohn v. Trammell · Warner v. Workman

2. “did not assess the level of [Mr. Palmer's] suffering, but rather assumed ... that because [Mr.] Palmer died more slowly than [Mr.] Jones he was in 'great physical anguish.' " Aplt. Br. at 97. The State counters that the question is not the length or extent of Mr. Palmer's suffering; the question is whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's conclusion that Mr. Palmer experienced conscious physical suffering as Oklahoma defines it. Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, the State contends the OCCA was reasonable in concluding such evidence exists. We agree. Here, the State relied on the testimony of Dr. Jeffrey Grofton, the coroner who performed Mr. Palmer's autopsy, and London Johnson, the surviving victim, to establish that Mr. Palmer experienced conscious physical suffering. Mr. Palmer was shot four times, but was conscious long enough to perceive that he had been shot and to fear further injury. Mr. Johnson, who was in the car with Mr. Palmer and Mr. Jones when it was suddenly fired upon, testified that when he opened the car door, Mr. Palmer told him to "[s]hut that door. They're going to come back.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Simpson v. Carpenter

3. “When a defendant asserts claims of prosecutorial misconduct in a habeas petition, those claims are reviewed for a violation of due process----To be entitled to relief, a defendant must establish that the prosecution’s conduct or remarks so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a violation of due process. Such a determination may be made only after taking notice of all the surrounding cireum stances, including the strength of the state’s case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Wimbley v. Werholtz