Belmontes v. Ayers’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 federal appellate · 1 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 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A parole report prepared for Belmontes on May 11, 1979, remarked that “the method in which the murder was carried out indicate[d] planning, sophistication, and premeditation.” Witness testimony offered strong evidence against Bel-montes. However, “because of lack of cooperation on the part of the witnesses, [Belmontes] could not be tried for mur der.” FN3 Still, the police could prove that Belmontes possessed the gun used to kill Howard, so Belmontes agreed to plead to a charge of accessory after the fact to voluntary manslaughter. The police remained convinced of his principal role. Once shielded from prosecution by double jeopardy, Belmontes confessed to several persons that he had shot Howard. While investigating Belmontes’s criminal history in preparation for the McConnell murder trial, both Schick and the district attorney discovered that these persons, unlike the witnesses in 1979, were willing to testify. They included Belmontes’s case worker at the California Youth Authority (“CYA”), Charles Sapien, who told the district attorney in 1982 that Belmontes had confessed to shooting Howard. Sapien recounted that Belmontes had denied the crime during his incarceration at CYA, but had confided to Sapien upon his release that he had “wasted that guy.” Another witness was Steven Cartwright, who informed the district attorney that Belmontes had confessed to him that he had killed Howard, but that in 1979, Belmontes’s mother had begged him not to testify. Another witness was Det”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Belmontes v. Ayers

2. “[I]n addition to growing up in a poverty-stricken family in which his father, a profound alcoholic, beat his mother severely and regularly, Belmontes dealt with a host of other traumas. When he was five years old, for example, his 10-month-old sister died of a brain tumor. After her death, Belmontes exhibited symptoms of depression and repeatedly visited the cemetery where she had been buried. In addition to dealing with his father’s alcoholism, Belmontes also suffered as a result of his maternal grandmother’s alcoholism and prescription drug addiction, which, in combination with her manipulative and controlling behavior, caused constant strife within both his immediate and extended family. In spite of the adversity he experienced, Belmontes was a kind, responsible and likeable child with a very pleasant demeanor. He was a loving and protective older brother to his two younger siblings, and was kind and respectful toward his maternal grandparents notwithstanding the fact that they disapproved of him on account of his mixed racial background. He participated in Little League, the Navy Cadets, team sports, and had a paper route. In his early years, he kept up in school, made friends easily, and got along with his teachers. At age 14, however, Belmontes was beset by rheumatic fever, a condition for which he was repeatedly hospitalized. The disease was significantly debilitating and required him to stop attending school and to terminate his involvement in sports and other social ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Belmontes v. Ayers

3. “Both parties were aware, however, that the trial court might admit the Howard evidence for other purposes, such as to rebut or to impeach testimony of character witnesses for the defense. See Cal. Evid.Code § 1102(b) (permitting the prosecution to use character evidence, including prior bad acts, “to rebut evidence adduced by the defendant”). The trial transcript substantiates the risk cross-examination posed to the defense. At one point, the defense attorney inadvertently elicited testimony from Bel-montes’s friend Robert Martinez that Belmontes was not a violent person. Outside the hearing of the jury, the prosecutor informed defense counsel and the court that he intended “to cross-examine [Martinez] fully about his knowledge of other violent actions done by Mr. Belmontes” unless the court struck the evidence from the record. He noted that “counsel was well aware of all the witnesses I have lined up to testify to [Belmontes’s violent past].” FN5 The court agreed: “I’m going to have to allow him to go into the whole background if we don’t do that.” (emphasis added). Schick immediately acquiesced; the judge ordered Martinez’s character testimony stricken from the record and admonished the jury to disregard it. This incident leaves little doubt that the court was ready to admit the Howard evidence for rebuttal or impeachment.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Belmontes v. Ayers