State v. Knight’s Empirical Analysis
2005
Citation profile
7
cited by 7 later decisions
3
states following
June 2018
most recently cited
1 federal appellate · 5 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on North Carolina v. Alford · State v. Shreves · Jennings v. State · State v. Sims · Bergmann v. McCaughtry
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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It is apparent from the judge’s comments that the judge did not know that [the defendant] had entered an Alford plea, as the court referenced [his] “admission of guilt” as “perhaps a sign of remorse.” (The sentencing judge had not presided at the plea hearing.) In addition, the court commented, “At least you admitted that you were guilty of three offenses.” Clearly, the court did not consider the defendant’s Alford plea or his refusal to admit guilt as a sentencing factor, as the court mistakenly believed the defendant had admitted his guilt earlier when he entered a guilty plea. We also disagree with the defendant. . . that the sentencing court penalized [him] for not apologizing. In reading the court’s comments in their entirety, it is clear the court was concerned with the defendant’s lack of remorse and mentioned an apology as simply one way in which the defendant could have expressed remorse.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage““And as I listen to [you], your comments indicate one thing and that is a lack of remorse. You have done an excellent job pointing out certain factors which are important to the Court’s sentence, but other than your admission of guilt — which is perhaps a sign of remorse. At least you admitted that you were guilty of three offenses. There’s no apology. There’s no sign of remorse here whatsoever.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage“A defendant's acceptance of responsibility for the offense, and a sincere demonstration of remorse, are proper considerations in sentencing. They constitute important steps toward rehabilitation.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.