Borden v. Allen’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 federal appellate ·

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

1. “[T]he petitioner is, or should be, aware of the evidence to support the claim before bringing his petition.”). 64 . The Georgia Resource Center is a nonprofit that provides free legal representation to indigent Georgia death-row inmates. Hitt-son’s current counsel are attorneys with the Georgia Resource Center. 65 . In the COA context, this situation presents itself where a district court dismisses a peti tioner’s federal petition on procedural grounds, without passing on the merits of the claims. Because § 2253 requires a”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hittson v. GDCP Warden · French v. Carter

2. “[Tjhere are simply no facts presented in the Amended Petition that would warrant a finding of prejudice and therefore habeas relief — only "bare allegations] ... and mere conclusions of law,” Ala. R.Crim. P. 32.6(b). The following quotes from Borden's Amended Petition are illustrative of the level of specificity with which he pled his claims in support of a finding of prejudice under Strickland: "Trial counsel’s deficient performance prevented the juiy and the trial court from hearing and considering an abundance of mitigating evidence "Mr. Borden was entitled to have all aspects of his background, family life, medical history, school records, and any other life-experience that may be considered mitigating evidence presented to the jury and judge at the penalty phase of his capital trial"-, "effective preparation and investigation by defense counsel would have revealed a host of mitigating factors, which should have been presented at Mr. Borden’s penalty phase”; "Mr. Borden’s parents both possessed information that would have been useful to Mr. Borden's defense”; "other people ... would have been able to present a complete portrait of Mr. Borden, which would have lessened his culpability for the crime, revealed numerous mitigating circumstances, and led the jury to impose a lesser sentence of life without possibility of parole”; a review of the records and interviews with "potential witnesses who were willing to testify ... could have established numerous mitigating factors t”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Boyd v. Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections

3. “effective preparation and investigation by defense counsel would have revealed a host of mitigating factors, which should have been presented at Mr. Borden’s penalty phase”; "Mr. Borden’s parents both possessed information that would have been useful to Mr. Borden's defense”; "other people ... would have been able to present a complete portrait of Mr. Borden, which would have lessened his culpability for the crime, revealed numerous mitigating circumstances, and led the jury to impose a lesser sentence of life without possibility of parole”; a review of the records and interviews with "potential witnesses who were willing to testify ... could have established numerous mitigating factors that could have swayed the jury to a finding of life in prison rather than death”; and, with regard to the specific allegation that counsel should have called Borden’s treating physicians at the penalty phase, “[mjental health testimony would have played an important part in Mr. Borden’s mitigation case, given the reduced level of mental health deficiency necessary to create a mitigating condition.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Boyd v. Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections