680 So. 2d 953 - McTerry v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““A corollary to the accused’s right to compulsory process is the court’s obligation to ensure that that right is not violated for procedurally pretextual reasons. See Thomas v. State, 15 Ala.App. 408, 409 , 73 So. 558 (1916) (compulsory process ‘is a substantive right, a real right, and not an illusory sham to be satisfied by the issue of process, which is to be rendered ineffectual by hastening on to immediate trial’), and Walker v. State, 117 Ala. 85, 88 , 23 So. 670 (1898) (‘No convenience of the court, nor any condition of the docket of the cases for trial, can authorize the denial of [the right of the accused to compulsory process], guaranteed to him by the constitution of the State.’). The mandatoiy and comprehensive nature of the court’s obligation to the accused was illustrated in Ervin v. State, 584 So.2d 947 (Ala.Cr.App.1991).””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 256 So. 3d 596 - Casey v. State · 58 So. 3d 215 - Spencer v. State

2. ““We note that the court’s duty to issue subpoenas on an accused’s behalf does not require the court to grant a motion for a continuance or a motion for an attachment. The law is well-settled that a motion for a continuance, even when based on an absent witness, is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Pritchett v. State, 445 So.2d 984 (Ala.Cr.App.1984). See Rule 17.5, Ala.R.Crim. P., (‘[a]ny witness who, after being subpoenaed, fails to appear ... may be attached by order of the court’) and § 12-21-182(a) (‘the attendance of such witness may be compelled by attachment’). “The state contends that the appellant’s motion for a subpoena amounted to a motion for a continuance. However, this assertion is unsupported by the record. The appellant never indicated to the court that he would need additional time to locate Williams. Indeed, Williams had shown up for trial earlier that day, and there was no reason to believe he could not be found within a short time. At the time the subpoena was requested, two defense witnesses and two rebuttal witnesses for the state had yet to testify.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 58 So. 3d 215 - Spencer v. State

3. “The right to offer the testimony of witnesses, and to compel their attendance, if necessary, is in plain terms the right to present a defense, the right to present the defendant's version of the facts as well as the prosecution's to the jury so it may decide where the truth lies. Just as an accused has the right to confront the prosecution's witnesses for the purpose of challenging their testimony, he has the right to present his own witnesses to establish a defense. This right is a fundamental element of due process of law.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 256 So. 3d 596 - Casey v. State