State v. McKay’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 51 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 59 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Defendants assert that the trial judge erred in allowing the State to cross-examine each defendant about the circumstances of the offenses when they testified at the sentencing hearing. We readily agree that this would have been prejudicial error but for the fact that it was invited, if not necessitated, by the direct testimony of the defendants. In testifying during the sentencing phase of the trial, McKay and Sample asserted unequivocally their innocence of the robbery of the Sundry Store and the murders. We agree with the State’s contention that defendants raised a non-statutory mitigating factor that the State was clearly entitled to rebut.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Jones · State v. Teague

2. “On August 29, 1981, at approximately 11:00 p.m. Melvin Wallace, Jr., went into the L & G Sundry Store at 1069 North Watkins in Memphis to purchase two barbecue sandwiches. When he entered, there were four men in the Sundry Store, including two clerks, Benjamin Cooke and Steve Jones, who were known to Wallace as he was a regular customer. The other two black men were the defendants, Larry McKay and Michael Eugene Sample. Wallace did not know them but positively identified them in a line-up at 2:43 p.m. on August 31, 1981, as the murderers of Cooke and Jones and Sample as the person who shot him in the thigh and back and attempted to shoot him in the head. Wallace testified that he went to the back of the store where Cooke had gone to prepare the sandwiches. McKay was also standing in the back with a quart of 45 Beer mumbling to himself. Not wanting to get involved with a drunk, Wallace turned and directed his attention to the front of the store where Jones and defendant Sample were standing. When he thought the sandwiches would be ready, he looked around at Cooke and saw that McKay had gone behind the counter and was holding a gun at Cooke’s head. When Wallace realized “it was a robbery” and “broke and ran for the front door,” Sample hollered for him to halt and shot him in the thigh. Wallace tried to play dead but Sample came over and said, “This nigger ain’t dead,” and shot him in the back. Wallace had heard Sample demanding that Jones give him all the money and heard Jones ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 958 F. Supp. 2d 865 - Sample v. Colson

3. ““The evidence of the other crime was relevant to the issue in this case of whether defendants were in possession of a .45 caliber automatic pistol [which had been stolen in the robbery] prior to the time of the Sundry Store massacre and also to the issue of the identity of the killers.” 680 S.W.2d at 452 .”

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