Middlebrooks v. Bell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 1 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[O]n the evening of Sunday, April 26, 1987, around 7:00 p.m., the victim, Ker-rick Majors, a 14-year-old black male, was with four friends on Gallatin Road in East Nashville, Tennessee, when they saw a table with a “lot of stuff’ being set up across the street as a flea market by three homeless street persons: the defendant, Donald Middlebrooks (a 24-year-old white male); his wife, 17-year-old Tammy Middlebrooks; and their companion, 16-year-old Roger Brewing-ton. The five boys ran across Gallatin Road and were looking at the flea market when Tammy Middlebrooks called out, “Hey, leave our stuff alone!” The boys started running. The defendant and Brewington chased them until they caught Majors. Brewington grabbed Majors in a “sleeper hold” around his neck and head. The defendant held his hand. When Majors said, “Hey man, you know me,” Brewington responded, “Shut up, you nigger.” Shannon Stewart and another of the boys, Tony Watson, saw the two men drag Majors toward the table and observed the defendant strike him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Frightened, the boys took off running. Later that evening, they reported these events to the victim’s mother, who called the police. The next aftprnoon, Kerrick Majors’ nude body was discovered lying face up in a dry creek bed under a foam mattress in a heavily wooded area, behind a drugstore on Gallatin Road in the area where the defendant and Brewington had caught Majors. A bloodstained T-shirt was tied around his neck. A red”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Middlebrooks v. Carpenter

2. “According to the State’s proof, fourteen-year-old Majors was small for his age. He was described as a good student who loved school. He was not a violent person, nor did he carry a weapon. Since his murder, his mother’s health has deteriorated. She has been on medication and will not leave the house except for doctor appointments. She has had a nervous breakdown, suffers from panic attacks, and has not been able to sleep at night since the murder. Majors’ older brother blames himself for Majors’ death and now suffers from mood swings. Shannon Stewart testified that he had spoken with Middlebrooks the morning of the murder. Middlebrooks had told Stewart that he was a member of the KKK, that .he “hated niggers,” and that he punched a black man just for saying hello, Stewart also testified that he overheard Mid-dlebrooks order Majors to “shut up nigger.” The defense introduced mitigation evidence as follows: Middlebrooks’ cousins, James and Carol Sue Little, and his half-sister, Sharon Fuchs, testified about Middlebrooks’ childhood. Middlebrooks grew up in Texas. His father died when he was four. His mother remarried and had another child, Ms. Fuchs, before she again divorced, Middlebrooks’ mother either left the children at night with relatives or else would take them to bars with her. According to the proof, Middlebrooks’ mother would often bring men to the house, and the children sometimes heard or saw their mother having sex. Ms. Fuchs testified that sometimes these men woul”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Middlebrooks v. Carpenter

3. “[tjrial counsel failed to move for expert assistance, including, but not limited to, a neuropsychologist who could have addressed the issue of brain damage and its effect upon Donald: Middlebrooks.” Appellant App. at 176. 2 . Claim 9j states that “[tjrial counsel failed to adequately investigate the mental state of the petitioner including neurological impairment.” Id. 3 ; Claim 9cc asserts that”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Middlebrooks v. Carpenter