Harris v. Oliver’s Empirical Analysis
645 F.2d 327 · 1981
Citation profile
17 federal appellate · 15 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 49 later decisions — most recently December 2015 · most notably Washington v. Watkins (1981), Washington v. Strickland (1982)
17 federal appellate · 15 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Townsend v. Sain · Tollett v. Henderson · Rogers v. Richmond · Eisenstadt v. Baker · Romano v. United States
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 49 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"Reasonably effective assistance is an easier standard to meet in the context of a guilty plea than in a trial, but counsel still must render competent service. See Tollett v. Henderson , 1973, 411 U.S. 258 , 93 S.Ct. 1602 , 36 L.Ed.2d 235 . It is the lawyer's duty to ascertain if the plea is entered voluntarily and knowingly. Lamb v. Beto , 5th Cir. 1970, 423 F.2d 85 , 87 , cert. denied , 400 U.S. 846 , 91 S.Ct. 93 , 27 L.Ed.2d 84 . See Walker v. Caldwell , 5th Cir. 1973, 476 F.2d 213 ; Colson v. Smith , 5th Cir. 1971, 438 F.2d 1075 ; O'Neal v. Smith , 5th Cir. 1970, 431 F.2d 646 . He must actually and substantially assist his client in deciding whether to plead guilty. Walker v. Caldwell, supra , 476 F.2d at 224 . It is his job to provide the accused an `understanding of the law in relation to the facts.' Id. at 218 . The advice he gives need not be perfect, but it must be reasonably competent. Colson v. Smith, supra , 438 F.2d at 1081 n. 5. His advice should permit the accused to make an informed and conscious choice. Id. at 1079 . In other words, if the quality of counsel's service falls below a certain minimum level, the client's guilty plea cannot be knowing and voluntary because it will not represent an informed choice. And a lawyer who is not familiar with the facts and law relevant to his client's case cannot meet that required minimal level."”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“the decision of the state trier of fact may rest upon an error of law rather than an adverse determination of the facts,”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Brown v. Dugger“reasonably effective assistance of counsel”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.