Townsend v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

44 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 44 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “particularized - individual - cireumstances may constitute a separate aggravating circumstance.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Mills v. State · Underwood v. State

2. ““This Court has looked and will continue to look at findings and verdicts to determine if they are inconsistent. But perfect logical consistency should not be demanded, and only extremely contradictory and irreconcilable verdicts warrant corrective action by this Court.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Williams v. State · Sayles v. State

3. “[T]wo of the aggravating circumstances, possession of the gun and threatening the victim, were elements of the crime for which the defendant was convicted, and thus, standing alone, cannot be considered as aggravating circumstances to support an enhanced sentence. If the trial court’s imposition of the enhanced sentence resulted from consideration of the mere facts of weapon possession and threatening the victim, the sentence must be revised to exclude such considerations. However, if the enhanced sentence resulted from the trial court’s consideration of the particularized circumstances of these factual elements, the trial court’s sentencing statement must specify reasons why the use of the gun in this instance, or the manner in which the victim was threatened, constitute aggravating circumstances which support the imposition of the enhanced sentence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Joshua Gomillia v. State of Indiana