74 So. 3d 32 - VanPelt v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 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. ““ ‘ “[tjhere is no requirement that a defendant be allowed to question each prospective juror individually during voir dire examination. This'' rule applies to capital eases, and the granting of a request for individual voir dire is discretionary with the trial court.’’ Coral v. State, 628 So.2d 954, 968 (Ala.Crim.App.1992), aff 'd, 628 So.2d 1004 (Ala.1993).’ ””

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Scheuing v. State · Kirksey v. State

2. “"In our adversarial system of criminal justice, a prosecutor seeking a sentence of death may properly argue to the jury that a death sentence is appropriate. See Hall v. State , 820 So.2d 113 , 143 (Ala.Crim.App.1999). On the other hand, it is impermissible for a prosecutor to urge the jury to ignore its penalty-phase role and simply rely on the fact that the State has already determined that death is the appropriate sentence. See Guthrie [v. State ], 616 So.2d [914,] 931-32 [ (Ala.Crim.App.1993) ] (holding that a prosecutor's statement that ' "[w]hen I first became involved in this case, from the very day, the State of Alabama, the law enforcement agencies and everybody agreed that this was a death penalty case, and we still stand on that position" ' improperly '[led] the jury to believe that the whole governmental establishment had already determined that the sentence should be death and [invited] the jury to adopt the conclusion of others, ostensibly more qualified to make the determination, rather than deciding on its own')."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Johnson v. State · McMillan v. State

3. ““ ‘Because the government’s duty to disclose covers only evidence within the government’s possession, the government is not obliged to furnish information already known by the defendant, or information, evidence, or material that is available or accessible to the accused, which the defendant could obtain by exercising reasonable diligence. Discovery is also not required where the defendant knows of the essential facts permitting one to take advantage of the evidence.’ “22A C.J.S. Criminal Law § 667. ‘Prosecutors have no duty under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), to disclose evidence available to the defense from another source.’ Hurst v. State, 469 So.2d 720, 723 (Ala.Crim.App.1985). See also Brown v. State, 982 So.2d 565 (Ala.Crim. App.2006); McGowan v. State, 990 So.2d 931 (Ala.Crim.App.2003); Gardner v. State, 530 So.2d 250 (Ala.Crim.App.1987).””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Moody v. State · Mashburn v. State