State v. Grubbs’s Empirical Analysis
1987
Citation profile
9 federal appellate · 28 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 40 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2009 · most notably State v. Tokar (1996), State v. Brown (1995)
9 federal appellate · 28 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Lockett v. Ohio · Zant v. Stephens · Nantahala Power & Light Co. v. Thornburg · Illinois Power Co. v. Local Union No. 51, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers · Green v. Missouri
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 40 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“This case seems to have arisen out of a drinking session. 1 The killing was shocking and senseless, but numerous life sentence cases are reported in which the ultimate punishment is much more appropriate than in this case (if, indeed, we must depart from the practice of nations who follow the western tradition in exacting the death penalty). The defendant had numerous convictions, but none for major offenses. His is an unlikely selection for the death sentence, when some juries assess it and some do not.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrencee.g. Grubbs v. Delo · Grubbs v. Delo“[N]othing in the record ... support[s] the finding that the defendant killed "for the purpose of preventing his lawful arrest." The fact that the defendant and his brother wore gloves in February, and the fact that money and food stamps were missing (but not found on the defendant), provide, at the most, scanty support for the assertion that the killing was committed "for the purpose of receiving money or other thing of value."”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrencee.g. Grubbs v. Delo · Grubbs v. Delo“The evidence showed that the victim, Jerry Russell Thornton, lived in a trailer in the town of Miner in Scott County, Missouri. On the afternoon of Wednesday, February 15, 1984, Ricky Lee Grubbs and his brother, Randy Grubbs, went to Thornton's trailer. Ricky Grubbs was acquainted with Thornton, having been at his trailer once before; Randy Grubbs had previously worked for Thornton. Both brothers wore gloves while in the trailer. When they left the trailer Thornton was dead. When the body was discovered, its hands and feet were found bound with neckties. The victim had suffered massive injuries to his upper torso, including thirteen broken ribs and a cracked sternum; a laceration of the liver and damage to the small intestine; abrasions and lacerations on the face; a broken nose and a brain hemorrhage ... Approximately thirty dollars and some food stamps were taken from the victim's trailer. The next day defendant and his brother returned to the trailer in order to set it afire and destroy the evidence. Late that evening, the fire department was summoned to put out the fire and Thornton's body was discovered.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Grubbs v. Delo
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.