Johnson v. Bagley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 federal appellate · 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““I and the public know [w]hat all schoolchildren learn,” it has been said, “[tjhose to whom evil is done [d]o evil in return.” W.H. Auden, “September 1, 1939.” While these words may not capture a satisfactory theory of morality, they assuredly suggest a plausible theory for sparing a life at a mitigation hearing[.]”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Dixon v. Houk · Lang v. Bobby

2. “The errors of Johnson’s attorneys, particularly their lack of investigation, had a serious impact on the mitigation theory presented to the jury. Competent counsel could have put on evidence that “differed] in a substantial way — in strength and subject matter — from the evidence actually presented at sentencing.” Hill v. Mitchell, 400 F.3d 308, 319 (6th Cir.2005). As the district court found, “not one witness testified about the abuse that [Johnson] and his brother suffered as a way of life,” and the jury “was misled into believing that [Faulkner] had raised [Johnson] properly and provided for his needs.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Johnson (Slip Opinion)

3. “Buttressed by a reasonably adequate investigation, the defense team's ultimate presentation to the jury might have been justified as the product of strategic choice. But that is not what happened.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lang v. Bobby