61 So. 3d 130 - State v. Phillips’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Even though a sentence under the Habitual Offender Law is the minimum provided by that statute, the sentence may still be unconstitutionally excessive if it makes no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of | ^punishment, or is nothing more than the purposeful imposition of pain and suffering and is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime. However, the entire Habitual Offender Law has been held constitutional, and, thus, the 'minimum sentences it imposes upon habitual offenders are also presumed to be constitutional. There must be substantial evidence to rebut the presumption of constitutionality. To rebut the presumption that the mandatory minimum sentence is constitutional, the Defendant must show by clear and convincing evidence that he is exceptional, which in this context means that because of unusual circumstances he is a victim of the legislature’s failure to assign sentences that are meaningfully tailored to the culpability of the offender, the gravity of the offense, and the circumstances of the case. “Departures downward from the minimum sentence under the Habitual Offender Law should occur only in rare situations.” (citations omitted).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 70 So. 3d 1061 - State v. Landfair · 114 So. 3d 1274 - State v. Chaplain

2. “[a] post-verdict attack on the sufficiency of an indictment does not provide grounds for setting aside a conviction unless the indictment failed to give fair notice of the offense charged or failed to set forth any identifiable offense.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Pittman · 245 So. 3d 15 - State v. Brazell