United States v. Meeker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

27 federal appellate · 5 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 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[T]he questions invited the jury to convict [the defendant] on facts outside the record, some of which were patently untrue, and others of which were not admissible at trial. ‘The prejudice to a defendant of inviting conviction on facts—if they be such—dehors the record is counter to the basic concept of fairness.’ ... [C]oming from the mouth of the representative of the United States, of whom the average jury expects fairness and impartiality ..., such prejudicial questions ‘carry much weight against the accused when they should properly carry none.’”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Elmer v. State

2. ““ ‘we have not here a case where the misconduct of the prosecuting attorney was slight or confined to a single instance, but one where such misconduct was pronounced and persistent, with a probable cumulative effect upon the jury which cannot be disregarded as inconsequential.’ ” 558 F.2d at 390 , quoting from Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 89 , 55 S.Ct. 629, 633 , 79 L.Ed. 1314 (1935).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Dean v. Israel

3. “carry much weight against the accused when they should properly carry none.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Vargas