494 So. 2d 819 - Williams v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"Since the defendant is allowed to withdraw from his part of the bargain in a guilty plea agreement, should not the State be afforded the same right? It is hardly surprising that, when a defendant is successful in withdrawing his guilty plea, the State would seek to withdraw its consent to the dismissal of charges as a result of the guilty plea. United States ex rel. Williams v. McMann, Warden , 436 F.2d 103 (2nd Cir.1970). "In Sweetwine v. State , 42 Md.App. 1 , 398 A.2d 1262 (1979), Judge Moylan stated that `[i]n the context of a negotiated plea of guilty, the whole package of reciprocal arrangements and obligations is conditional. The condition is the continuing good health of the guilty plea. If it is voided, both the defendant and the State return to "square one." They both begin again with a clean slate. The invalidation of the "contract" invalidates all obligations under that contract by either contracting party.' Sweetwine , supra, 398 A.2d at 1265 (footnotes omitted). "Thus, it seems that, when the defendant withdraws his guilty plea or it is vacated for some other reason, then the State is free to pursue the charges which were dismissed as a result of the plea agreement. Myers v. Frazier , 319 S.E.2d 782 (W.Va. 1984)."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 959 So. 2d 692 - Sheffield v. State

2. “"Thus, the 'marital exemption' for the offense of forcible sodomy is hereby severed and removed from this statute. The statute at issue is now enlarged to include married, as well as unmarried, persons. Therefore, any person who engages in deviate sexual intercourse with any other person, by forcible compulsion, is guilty of the offense of sodomy in the first degree. "Since the court has chosen to uphold, rather than strike down this statute, the appellant's conviction for sodomy in the first degree is due to be and is hereby affirmed. His conviction is not in violation of due process of law because, at the time the appellant committed this offense, he had notice that his conduct constituted the offense of sodomy in the first degree in this state. Since the appellant was not in the class of persons protected by the 'marital exemption,' which was in effect prior to the date of this opinion, his conduct was proscribed by the forcible sodomy statute in effect at the time he committed this offense."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 500 So. 2d 1301 - Merton v. State

3. “The greater charge had been dropped in return for a plea of guilty to the lesser one. After that plea was vacated the situation reverted to the pre-plea stage. . . . The decision to prosecute [the defendant] for the more serious offense can on its face be explained in terms other than vindictiveness because of a successful appeal. There is no appearance of retaliation when a defendant is placed in the same position he was in before he accepted the plea bargain. The mere reinstitution of the [original] charges, under these circumstances, did not amount to a deprivation of [the defendant’s] due process rights.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 5 Va. App. 389 - Peterson v. Commonwealth