People v. Brensic’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 34 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) the declarant must be unavailable to testify by reason of death, absence from the jurisdiction, or refusal to testify on constitutional grounds; (2) the declarant must be aware at the time of its making that the statement was contrary to his penal interest; (3) the declarant must have competent knowledge of the underlying facts; and (4) there must be sufficient competent evidence independent of the declaration to assure its trustworthiness and reliability.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Haymon v. New York · 29 F. Supp. 2d 83 - McLean v. McGinnis

2. “the confession was unreliable as a matter of law”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 679 F. Supp. 212 - Quartararo v. Fogg · Ryan v. Miller

3. “[Petitioner] admitted participation in the murder after Detective Palumbo told him in the schoolyard that Brensic and Ryan would be tried for murder, and that he would have to testify against them. He then replied “I may as well tell the truth.” Thus, the possibility exists that Peter thought that only defendant and Ryan would be charged, and his involvement would be limited to testifying as a prosecution witness. Following Peter’s confession, he and his brother were not charged, and when they left the precinct the police expected that they would cooperate with the investigation. Moreover, there is no evidence that Peter Quartara-ro was specifically told that, if he confessed, he would be tried for murder. Palumbo testified that he did not tell Peter he would go to jail for what he was admitting. Significantly, on cross-examination at the admissibility hearing Pa-lumbo stated that, prior to his recantation of the confession, Peter pleaded with his brother to confess saying “Mike, I told him everything. Please tell the cops. Please tell him everything. Let’s get out from under this ” (emphasis supplied). There also was evidence that, after his son recanted his confession, Mr. Quartararo urged him to tell the truth “to save your skin”.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Quartararo v. Mantello