Washington v. Harris’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate ·

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

1. “At trial, the prosecution presented the testimony of several witnesses and a written statement made by the petitioner several hours after his arrest while represented by counsel, which established the following facts: On June 4, 1973, at approximately 8:15 a. m., the petitioner and his wife were in front of their apartment at 1043 Clay Avenue in the Bronx. The deceased, Peggy Mickens, accompanied by a woman friend, approached and attacked Mrs. Washington with a knife as she was placing trash in the garbage can. Mick-ens had harassed and assaulted the petitioner and his family for two years prior to this incident, and both Mickens and petitioner had filed criminal complaints against each other in the past. When petitioner, who was in his car, saw the attack, he took a pistol from the glove compartment, and intervened in the struggle. Petitioner fired his gun, but did not know whether he hit Mickens. Mickens then came after him with the knife. Petitioner wrestled with Mickens until he succeeded in getting the knife away from her. When petitioner was asked if he stabbed Mrs. Mickens with the knife, he answered “I guess so. I was just afraid.” Transcript of proceedings at 202, People v. Washington, No. 1999-73 (Sup.Ct. Bronx Co. October 1, 1975) [hereinafter cited as “Tr.”]. The medical examiner who performed an autopsy of the deceased testified that she had a bullet wound in the right eye, which had destroyed the eyeball; slash wounds on the face; a deep slash wound on the throa”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 502 F. Supp. 1267 - Washington v. Harris

2. “Let’s examine Bobby Washington’s statement for a second: What time was the crime committed? Police Officer [sic] testified that he got the call at approximately 8:30. We suggest that the crime happened before that. What time was the statement taken? 1:45 P.M. Man had time to think about what happened, [sic] Here’s a man who had time and did, in fact, consult with an attorney.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Bentley v. Scully