714 So. 2d 320 - Pace v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]he indictment against the appellant should have been dismissed because of discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson in Morgan County,”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Pace v. State · 777 So. 2d 225 - Drinkard v. State

2. “"What the trial court failed to consider when relying on [ U.S. v. ] Perez-Hernandez [ 672 F.2d 1380 (11th Cir.1982)] was the fact that the district attorney in Morgan County recommended to the trial court the person he wanted the trial court to select as grand jury foreperson. The situation that existed in this case is not analogous to the situation in Perez-Hernandez, where the judge, without outside advice, selected the grand jury foreperson. "In this case, the judge did not `alone' select the grand jury foreperson. The witnesses called in this case testified that they could not remember one instance when the trial court did not follow the recommendation of the district attorney. The individuals called to testify, a great many of whom were former district attorneys, stated that they picked the grand jury foreperson on the basis of whether they knew the person and whether that person had a good reputation in the community. One witness, a former district attorney and a former judge in Morgan County, admitted that the criteria he used when recommending a grand jury foreperson to the court was subjective. Of course, selection by the district attorney is inherently suspect because unlike the judge, the district attorney is not a neutral court official, but is instead an arm of the sovereign that will prosecute the individual once he or she is indicted by the grand jury. "As the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stated in Johnson v. Puckett, 929 F.2d 1067, 1073 (5th Cir.), cert. de”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 777 So. 2d 225 - Drinkard v. State

3. “"To prove a prima facie case of discrimination in the selection of grand jury forepersons a petitioner must show: 1) that the group alleged to be discriminated against is a distinct group; 2) that the degree of underrepresentation is significant over a period of time; and 3) that the selection procedure is susceptible to abuse or is not race-neutral. Lee v. State, 631 So.2d 1059, 1060 (Ala.Cr. App.1993), and Locke v. State, 631 So.2d 1062 (Ala.Cr.App.1993). See also Johnson v. Puckett, 929 F.2d 1067, 1071 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 898 , 112 S.Ct. 274 , 116 L.Ed.2d 226 (1991). "At the hearing on remand, the testimony established that blacks comprised a distinct group in Morgan County. Testimony also established that since 1927, the date a record of grand jury proceedings was first kept, no black had ever served as foreperson for a Morgan County grand jury. Testimony also established that the grand jury forepersons were chosen by the judge who presided over grand jury selection on the advice of the district attorney's office. Several judges testified that it was their practice to ask the district attorney who to appoint as grand jury foreperson or, in a few instances, to have the district attorney approve of the name they selected. There is absolutely no question here that a prima facie case of discrimination was proven. The trial court in its order denying the motion agreed."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 777 So. 2d 225 - Drinkard v. State