68 F. Supp. 2d 863 - Dennis v. Mitchell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It is well-settled that the procedural aspects of the administration of criminal justice abound with situations in which the exercise of discretion by a myriad of participants occupies a significant role in determining the destiny of an alleged offender.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 100 F. Supp. 2d 647 - Jamison v. Collins · 104 F. Supp. 2d 773 - Smith v. Anderson

2. “During the jury’s penalty-phase deliberations, the trial court learned that Harris had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child, when a detective asked the court to momentarily excuse Harris from deliberations in order to sign a criminal complaint. The court brought Harris into chambers before the parties and conducted a voir-dire examination of her at that time. Harris explained that she had decided not to mention the sexual abuse during the original voir-dire examination because she did not feel it fit the definition of violent crime. She reached this conclusion after asking the trial judge’s bailiff during jury selection for a definition of “violent crime.” Harris indicated that at that time, she concluded that her experience was not “violent” when compared to murder, and therefore, did not bring it to the court’s attention. The court questioned Harris extensively, and she was adamant that her status as a victim of sexual abuse, had nothing to do with what happened to the Kyle family or Dennis, and that she could separate the two experiences and be impartial. The court asked defense counsel if they had anything they wished to put on the record, and defense counsel indicated they did not. After Harris returned to the jury room, counsel for both sides informed the court that just prior to trial they became aware of the fact that Harris had been a witness to sexual abuse. Counsel for both parties agreed that it probably wasn’t necessary for them to act upon it. However, at th”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Dennis v. Mitchell

3. “In this case, the prosecution offered several neutral explanations for the exclusion of McGinnis and Dortch. First, the prosecutor explained that he used peremptory challenges on McGinnis and Dortch based, at least in part, on their views of the death penalty. Both prospective jurors expressed opposition to the death penalty on religious grounds. Though both prospective jurors eventually said they could impose a death sentence, both were nevertheless opposed to capital punishment. Moreover, the prosecutor noted that prospective juror Dortch had a cousin that had been murdered and a son that had been convicted of a serious crime. Also, the prosecutor explained that a prospective juror McGinnis was consistently late and the only one confused about the jury procedures. After directly observing the voir dire questioning, the trial judge found the use of peremptory challenges was not motivated by impermissible considerations. The trial judge stated that when Dortch and McGinnis were excused: “I consciously reviewed the circumstances relative to each of these two ladies and having no specific request at that time to place it on the record, it was the Court’s determination that with Batson in mind, that at least in this Court’s opinion that these were acceptable challenges on behalf of the state.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Dennis v. Mitchell