Fields v. Brown’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 federal appellate · 2 district · 12 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 74 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) whether the material was actually received, and if so, how; (2) the length of time it was available to the jury; (3) the extent to which the juror discussed and considered it; (4) whether the material was introduced before a verdict was reached, and if so at what point in the deliberations; and (5) any other matters which may bear on the issue of the reasonable possibility of whether the extrinsic material affected the verdict.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Oliver v. Quarterman · Crittenden v. Ayers

2. “[W]e see no basis for implying bias as a matter of law solely because Hilliard was the spouse of a rape victim. As a practical matter, many prospective jurors have close family members or friends who have suffered similar encounters. It is the role of voir dire to ferret out such relationships, and to develop the extent to which the juror’s ability to be impartial in the particular case is actually, or presumptively affected. For those revelations that occur during voir dire, the remedy is a cause challenge .... Being the spouse of a rape victim is not, in and of itself, such an ‘extreme’ or ‘extraordinary’ situation that it should automatically disqualify one from serving on a jury in a case that involves rape. It cannot be said that the average person in Hilliard’s position would be highly unlikely to remain impartial whether he acknowledged it or not. Rather, the effect of the spouse s experience on the juror’s impartiality depends on purely personal considerations that can vary from cases to case, including, for example, the similarity of the spouse’s experience to the facts of the case, the nature of the experience, its contemporaneous and continuing impact, the couple’s relationship, how the individual handles it, and so forth. Given Hilliard’s honest response on voir dire that revealed a potentially disqualifying relationship, but not an extreme or extraordinary one ... we see no basis for inferring bias now as a matter of law.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. YOUNG (ANDREW) v. STATE · 824 F. Supp. 2d 1025 - Hernandez v. Martel

3. “Whether or not [the jury foreman] should have brought his notes to the jury room and shared them, we cannot say that the Biblical part of the “for” part of the notes had a substantial and injurious effect on the verdict. His own notes had an "against” part as well. So far as we can tell, the commu nication occurred early on in the deliberations. Jurors could take as much time as they needed to sort through the evidence and reflect on whether the ultimate penalty was the right penalty. More importantly, the jury was instructed to base its decision on the facts and the law as stated by the judge, regardless of whether a juror agreed with it. We presume that jurors follow the instructions.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Lucero v. State · Cox v. Ayers