State v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Although Brazzell was a first felony offender, he had two prior misdemeanor convictions, one of which was for possession of marijuana which occurred only a short time before the distribution charge. Mr. Brazzell was separated from his wife, had only one child, and had an unstable employment record. In the instant case, the defendant has a stable work history and stable family life. He has a wife and six minor children who depend upon him as their sole support. The sentencing hearing does not specifically reflect that the substantial mitigating factors were considered by the trial judge. Although defendant has a prior felony conviction, he has, insofar as is reflected in the PSI and the sentencing hearing, led a law abiding life for approximately eighteen years before he committed the instant offense. We further note that the nature of defendant’s prior felony is unrelated to the present offense. This very old felony conviction, when considered in light of defendant’s long crime-free life, and his stable family and excellent work record, is entitled to little consideration in the determination of the length of defendant’s prison sentence. See LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 894.1, subd. B(7).”

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