LaPierre v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 14 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “conduct which is sufficient to excite an intense passion in a reasonable person in the defendant’s situation, other than a person who is intoxicated, under the circumstances as the defendant reasonably believed them to be; insulting words, insulting gestures, or hearsay reports of conduct engaged in by the intended victim do not, alone or in combination with each other, constitute serious provocation.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Xi Van Ha v. State · Roark v. State

2. “Even assuming [that LaPierre established] an actual conflict of interest ..., he is incorrect in maintaining that a per se rule of reversal applies. We decline to find that reversal automatically follows upon a bare showing of conflict of interest. Our view reflects the position adopted recently by the United States Supreme Court in Cuyler v. Sullivan [citation omitted] and Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 , 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). [[Image here]] In this case, LaPierre has, at most, demonstrated the existence of a conflict in the abstract. He has neither alleged nor demonstrated that his counsel “actively represented conflicting interests” or that the purported conflict “adversely affected his lawyer’s performance.” ... To the contrary, it appears that LaPierre was never actually called as a witness or required to testify at Simmons’ trial. LaPierre has failed to make an adequate showing to justify a presumption of prejudice under the Cuyler [sic: Sullivan ] and Strickland standard.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Carlson · Newby v. State

3. “In a prosecution [for first-degree murder] under AS 11.41.100(a)(1)(A) or [for second-degree murder under] AS 11.41.110(a)(1), it is a defense that the defendant acted in [the] heat of passion, before there had been a reasonable opportunity for the passion to cool, when the heat of passion resulted from a serious provocation by the intended victim.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Xi Van Ha v. State