Stidham v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 9 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. “Appellant points out that he was resentenced after the second trial nearly two years after his first trial and that during that period of time he was incarcerated in the Indiana State Prison. Appellant contends that, in sharp contrast to his behavior prior to his original sentencing, his behavior in prison had been exemplary, that he had obtained a GED, and that he actively participated in a substance abuse program as certified by a letter to Judge Dailey from Linda Poe the substance abuse supervisor at the institution. Appellant further states that the record discloses he was an abused child, a fact which should be taken into consideration as a mitigating factor. Although the trial judge considered these factors in rendering his sentence, he was not required to make an affirmative finding expressly negating each potential mitigating factor. Stout v. State (1988), Ind., 528 N.E.2d 476 ; Hammons v. State (1986), Ind., 493 N.E.2d 1250 . Given the extreme brutality of the crimes committed in this case, the trial judge was well within his discretion in refusing to mitigate the sentences either on appellant's subsequent conduct in the prison or the abuse he had received as a child. As pointed out by the trial judge, two of appellant's brothers had received the same treatment but had become upstanding citizens in their community.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State of Indiana v. Matthew Stidham

2. “On the night of February 23, 1991, [Stidham] and several of his friends, including the decedent in this case, drove to the decedent's apartment where they drank whiskey and played guitars. They eventually started "trading punches." This evidentially started as horseplay but grew into an angry encounter between [Stidham] and the decedent. As the fight escalated, the others joined with [Stidham] in beating the decedent. Not only did they beat and kick the decedent, but they also struck him with a wooden club. They then loaded much of the decedent's electronic equipment into his van, gagged him, placed him in the back of the van and drove off. They eventually arrived at a secluded area near the Mississinewa River where the decedent was removed from the van and again beaten and stabbed some forty-seven times before his body was thrown into the river. After visiting with friends, who they told of the killing, [Stidham] and his associates drove into the State of Illinois where they were arrested.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State of Indiana v. Matthew Stidham

3. “Prior recorded testimony may be admitted if the trial court finds that: (1) the testimony was given under oath at a prior judicial proceeding; (2) the party against whom the testimony is offered had the opportunity to cross-examine the witness at the prior proceeding; and (8) the witness is unavailable at the time of the later proceeding.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Rhea v. State