Clark v. Maggio’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 federal appellate · 5 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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Had the state court properly performed its function, it would have directed a verdict for Clark on the first degree murder charge and submitted to the jury only the second degree lesser-included offense [of felony murder]. There was no evidence that Clark actually shot Sawyer, but there was strong evidence that Clark participated in the robbery attempt and provided the means of escaping from the scene. This was sufficient for the jury to have found him to be a principal in the attempted robbery and thus guilty of second degree murder for any killing that resulted from the attempt. The sentence for that offense would have been the same as the one imposed on him. Because Clark has failed to show that he suffered any prejudice, we find no basis for granting a writ on the basis of insufficiency of the evidence.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Rainey v. Varner · Brown v. Collins

2. “[W]e do not grant a writ of habeas corpus in every instance in which the state has failed to conform to constitutional requirements.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Brown v. Collins · Simpson v. Ortiz

3. “This evidence, not duplicated by testimony from witnesses subject to cross-examination, directly implicated Mikell’s companions in the crime. Although no names were mentioned, the jury might well have filled in the blanks from the prior testimony that Mikell had provided the police with two names, deducing that those names were those of Mikell’s code-fendants. Even if we assume the jury did not draw this inference of its own accord, the prosecutor, in his closing argument, supplied the names that the trial judge ordered omitted: “So consequently if Clark was with Mikell and Benion was with Clark, then they were all together. And if all three planned it, as Mikell said they did, then under the law of principals, all three of them are guilty of the crime ... of first degree murder_” This conduct was not per se a violation of the confrontation clause, for the prosecution was not a witness against the accused. It was, however, grossly improper, for it constituted an effort by the prosecutor to supply information to the jury that was not only not in the record but had been ruled inadmissible.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Marsh v. Richardson