State v. Penkaty’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We have repeatedly stated that a “prosecutor is a minister of justice whose obligation is to guard the rights of the accused as well as to enforce the rights of the public.” E.g., State v. Cabrera, 700 N.W.2d 469, 475 (Minn.2005); State v. Salitros, 499 N.W.2d 815, 817 (Minn. 1993) (quoting I ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, The Prosecution Function 3-1.1 and Commentary at 3.7 (2d ed.1979)) (internal quotations omitted). The duty of a prosecutor is to see that justice is done on behalf of both the victim and defendant. Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 , 55 S.Ct. 629 , 79 L.Ed. 1314 (1935). Therefore, a prosecutor does not “represent” the victim. See id. A prosecutor represents the public interest and the sovereign and his goal is to see that justice is done. Id. This places a special burden on prosecutors because they should prosecute with “earnestness and vigor,” but must “refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction.” Id.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Matter of Discipline of Russell

2. “[e]vidence that a defendant exercised his rights to remain silent or to have an attorney present for questioning is generally inadmissible at trial.”

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