Cox v. Ayers’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate ·

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

1. “• On June 3, 1970, when Cox was only four years old, Cox watched his mother try to kill his sister, Edrina Meyers. • In August 1970, Everette Myers, the boyfriend and pimp of Cox’s mother, was shot and killed outside the mother’s door while Cox, four years old at the time, was inside the house. • On December 15, 1970, when Cox was five years old, Cox witnessed his mother attacking a police officer with a knife. • On January 23, 1971, when Cox was five years old, Cox witnessed his mother being taken away by ambulance after she was stabbed by a boyfriend. • In 1973 or 1974, when Cox was eight or nine years old, Cox’s mother set fire to the front door of the house of Cox’s grandmother, where Cox was staying. • In July 1977, when Cox was eleven years old, Cox’s mother was arrested in front of Cox for assault with a deadly weapon. • In August 1977, when Cox was eleven years old, Cox’s mother pushed Cox up against the wall, struck him in the face several times, and gave him a black eye. • In September 1977, when Cox was eleven years old, Cox’s mother threatened him with a steak knife. • On numerous occasions, Cox’s mother became intoxicated to the extent that she could not provide care or supervision for Cox.”

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

2. “Petitioner argues before this court that he was shackled at both the guilt and penalty phases. The district court found, and the record supports the finding, that Petitioner was shackled during the guilt phase only. Indeed, Petitioner asserted in his appellate brief to the California Supreme Court that he was not restrained during the penalty phase. Before the district court, Petitioner once again conceded that he was not restrained in the penalty phase. The trial transcript demonstrates that the trial court ordered the removal of the restraints on the last day of the guilt phase, and there is no mention of any restraint during the penalty phase. No juror observed any restraints during the penalty phase.”

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

3. ““It is all too tempting for a defendant to second-guess counsel’s assistance after conviction or adverse sentence, and it is all too easy for a court, examining counsel’s defense after it has proved unsuccessful, to conclude that a particular act or omission of counsel was unreasonable. A fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel’s challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel’s perspective at the time.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 725 F. Supp. 2d 925 - Lang v. Cullen