Henderson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"[I]n accordance with § 13A-5-53 , we have reviewed the record, including the guilt and sentencing proceedings, for any error which adversely affected the rights of the appellant, and we have found none. Nor do we find any evidence that the sentence was imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor. "The trial court properly found the existence of one aggravating circumstance, that the murder was committed for pecuniary gain, § 13A-5-49 (6), Code of Alabama 1975. The propriety of this aggravating circumstance was previously discussed. . . . The trial court also properly found the existence of one mitigating circumstance, the absence of a prior criminal record, § 13A-5-51 (1), Code of Alabama 1975. The trial court properly found the existence of no non-statutory mitigating circumstances. "After an independent weighing of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in this case, we find that the evidence supports the trial court's conclusion and indicates that death was the proper sentence. The sentence of death in this case is neither excessive nor disproportionate to the penalties imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ex Parte Henderson