542 So. 2d 1247 - Boyd v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"By any standard acceptable to a civilized society, these crimes were extremely wicked and shockingly evil. They were perpetrated with a design to inflict a high degree of pain with utter indifference to the suffering of the victims. The Court recognizes that all Capital offenses are heinous, atrocious and cruel to some extent, but the degree of heinousness and cruelty in these offenses far exceeds that which is common to all Capital offenses. ". . . . "After due consideration of all the matters that were presented to the Court during this hearing, both in mitigation and aggravation, the Court has carefully weighed the aggravating and mitigating circumstances which it finds to exist in this case, and has given consideration to the recommendation of the jury contained in its advisory verdict, and has taken into consideration all other matters that are properly before the Court, including the pre-sentence report and the arguments of the State and the Defendant. While the mitigating circumstances and the jury's recommendation of life without parole have weighed [heavily] in the Court's consideration, this Court does now find, and is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty that the aggravating circumstances of this horrible, cold-blooded crime as shown and brought before the Court far outweigh the mitigating circumstances shown to the Court, and that said aggravating circumstances outweigh the said mitigating circumstances in all regards and that they are suf”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Boyd v. Allen · 746 So. 2d 364 - Boyd v. State

2. “"that he is a friend of the appellant and grew up with him. He stated that he was with the appellant and Milstead the night before the murders took place. Surrett saw a silver .25 caliber gun and a .32 caliber gun in the appellant's car. "On March 27, 1986, Surrett went by the appellant's house to talk to him about some money the appellant owed him. When Surrett arrived, the appellant came out of the bathroom and said he could not believe how cold-blooded he was. "Then the appellant said he had something to tell Surrett. He said he and Milstead went to the Blackmons' house on the morning in question. The appellant took Mr. Blackmon to the bank and Mr. Blackmon got some money. Milstead and the appellant then took the Blackmons to the river. The appellant said Milstead hit Mrs. Blackmon in the nose and then shot her a couple of times. Later, the two broke Mrs. Blackmon's back and put her in a barrel which they pushed into the river. "The appellant said he hit Mr. Blackmon with a stick and then shot him. They put Mr. Blackmon's body into the trunk of his car and drove it into the river. "After the appellant finished talking, Surrett noticed some money on a table. The appellant said he got the money from Mr. Blackmon and paid Surrett the money he owned him. "The next week, the appellant called Surrett and asked him if he had heard the news about the Blackmons being missing. The appellant asked Surrett if he believed his story now. Surrett told the appellant that he did not want t”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 746 So. 2d 364 - Boyd v. State

3. “"Eugene Hunt Scheuerman testified that he was a medical examiner with the Department of Forensic Sciences in March of 1986. He stated that he was present when a black Cadillac Eldorado [automobile], tag number 11P-2864, was pulled from the Coosa River. The body of Fred Blackmon was removed from the trunk of this vehicle. Fred Blackmon was identified by the use of dental records. "Scheuerman performed the autopsy on Fred Blackmon's body. Mr. Blackmon's clothing was soiled, muddy, and wet when it was removed from the trunk of the vehicle. There was a strip of white cloth on Mr. Blackmon's body which was used as a gag. Three holes were present on Mr. Blackmon's shirt. Two gunshot wounds were found on Mr. Blackmon's body. One of the gunshots penetrated the neck and passed into the chest cavity. The other gunshot penetrated the left side of the chest and passed through the heart. Both of these projectiles were recovered. The weapon which caused these gunshot wounds was fired at close range. "Scheuerman also found minor blunt force injury to Mr. Blackmon's head. However, he determined Mr. Blackmon's cause of death to be the gunshot wounds to the chest and neck. "Dr. Joseph Embry, a forensic pathologist with the Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that he was present when a 55-gallon barrel was pulled from the Coosa River. The body of Evelyn Blackmon was found inside the barrel. She was identified through the use of head X-rays. Cinder blocks and bricks were also found in thi”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 746 So. 2d 364 - Boyd v. State