Thornton v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

38 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. “"No person can be convicted of a felony except upon the verdict of a jury duly rendered and recorded, unless in felony cases less than capital, the defendant, upon entering a plea, has in open court in person waived his right of trial by jury in writing in accordance with Articles 1.13 and 1.14; provided, however, that it shall be necessary for the state to introduce evidence into the record showing the guilt of the defendant and said evidence shall be accepted by the court as the basis for its judgment and in no event shall a person charged be convicted upon his plea without sufficient evidence to support the same. The evidence may be stipulated if the defendant in such case consents in writing, in open court, to waive the appearance, confrontation, and cross-examination of witnesses, and further consents either to an oral stipulation of the evidence and testimony or to the introduction of testimony by affidavits, written statements of witnesses, and any other documentary evidence in support of the judgment of the court. Such waiver and consent must be approved by the court in writing, and be filed in the file of the papers of the cause."”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Ex Parte Martin · Messer v. State

2. ““Thus, it matters not at all that the common law viewed a plea of guilty as a conviction, nor is it all that clear that such view is ‘the constitutional sense.’ What does matter and what is clear is that Texas is not, and patently has not subjected itself to be, bound by any such federal common law doctrine of conviction by plea. That doctrine simply has not been imposed on the criminal law of this State by the Constitution of the United States or by the Supreme Court of the United States directly or through Fourteenth Amendment ‘incorporation’ or any other fashion.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dees v. State · Ex Parte Martin

3. “As amended and added to by Acts 1931, 42nd Leg., ch. 43, p. 65, §§ 1, 2, and 3, these articles conditioned effectiveness of the waiver by an accused upon consent and approval by the State and the trial court, thereby [effectively] guaranteeing a right of trial by jury to the prosecution in order to preserve those interests of the State that Presiding Judge Davidson found in Woodall, supra, the earlier law was designed to protect.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State Ex Rel. Turner v. McDonald · In re State ex rel. O'Connell