Manley v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 18 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “This [jury voir dire ] is not a set script. I mean, I’ve discovered that some of the answers, you know, automatically, I think, common sense, lead to other questions that aren’t even on here.- Okay, and while I choose not to give such an open ended initial question as what are your views on the death penalty, I know — I mean we could go on ... that issue. The statute directs the court to focus on whether they have any conscientious scruples against the imposition of the death penalty and, if they do, whether they can set those scruples aside and obey the rule of law. Now, I think that’s the heart of the matter for which the court has to direct its questions to the jury in this voir dire, but — I know in other cases I have gotten answers, well, I'm not sure. You know, you do open up the doors there. What do you mean you’re not sure? Explain what you mean. And they might go into, well, my philosophical position is — and I'm not going to interrupt them and say, excuse me, just limit your answer, you know. And I’m not foreclosing that in this case in the sense that if it seems to follow that that question is a logical successor to the answer which has been given by the prospective juror, I’ll certainly ask that questions and others like them.”

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

2. “The standard for excluding a juror for cause, as a result of the juror’s views on capital punishment, is ‘whether the juror’s views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.’ ”) (quoting Witt, 469 U.S. at 424 , 105 S.Ct. 844 ). 74 . Gattis v. State, 697 A.2d 1174, 1181 (Del.1997). 75 . Manley, 709 A.2d at 654 (”

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

3. “Do you believe that anyone who takes another persons’s life automatically forfeits his right to live? In the event the jury found either defendant guilty of First Degree Murder, would you automatically vote in favor of the death penalty regardless of the presence of any mitigating circumstances and regardless of the Court’s instructions on the law?”

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