Arnold v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Had [the defense attorney] fully understood the facts and the applicable law, he may still have advised Arnold to plead no contest. He may not have found anything in the police reports that would have enabled him to challenge the indictment or obtain a more favorable disposition. Indeed, had he looked at the reports and listened to the grand jury testimony, he might have concluded that his client's decision to plead no contest was the only realistic course of action. The point is that [the defense attorney] was obligated to do more than he did{,] regardless of the outcome. Without a fuller understanding of the facts and law, [the attorney] could not meaningfully advise Arnold regarding the case against him. Without such meaningful advice, Arnold could not give an informed consent to a plea of no contest. Consequently, we conclude that the two prongs of the Risher test are satisfied. The first prong, ineffective performance, is established by [the defense attorney's] failure to adequately inform himself regarding the relevant facts and the law. Arnold's resulting inability to knowingly and intelligently evaluate his situation and enter an informed plea establishes prejudice and therefore satisfies the second prong.”

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