Smith v. Quarterman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 federal appellate · 1 district · 2 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 33 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “You are instructed that when you deliberate on the questions posed in the special issues, you are to consider mitigating circumstances, if any, supported by the evidence presented in both phases of the trial, whether presented by the State or the defendant. A mitigating circumstance may include, but is not limited to, any aspect of the defendant’s character, background, record, or circumstances of the crime which you believe could make a death sentence inappropriate in this case. If you find that there are any mitigating circumstances in this case, you must decide how much weight they deserve, and thereafter, give effect and consideration to them in assessing the defendant’s personal culpability at the time you answer the special issue. If you determine, when giving effect to the mitigating evidence, if any, that a life sentence, as reflected by a negative finding to the issue under consideration, rather than a death sentence, is an appropriate response to the personal culpability of the defendant, then a negative finding should be given to that special issue under consideration.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ex Parte Smith

2. “The emphasis of the Penry cases is on childhood adversity which has a formative, adverse effect on the defendant’s character, thereby potentially reducing his moral culpability.... None of Smith’s witnesses claim any such effect; indeed, to the limited extent that they mentioned his character, Smith’s mother and sister described him in positive terms, as calm and respectful, and, to their knowledge, non-violent and not a drug-user. This is a case where the petitioner’s evidence “has only a tenuous connection ... to the [petitioner’s] moral culpability.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 717 F. Supp. 2d 626 - McGowen v. Thaler

3. “We emphasize that our holding here is a narrow one, based on our detailed review of the record which contains no evidence of a connection between the poverty and crime of the Fifth Ward and Smith’s character. Unless we are to assume that every individual who grew up in poverty and in a crime-infested neighborhood has, by that fact alone, potentially reduced moral culpability, requiring a Penry instruction, we cannot conclude that the TCCA erred when it decided that Smith’s sentence passed muster under Penry.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 717 F. Supp. 2d 626 - McGowen v. Thaler