State v. Murray’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 128 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 133 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) Whether the sentence of death was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor; (2) Whether the evidence supports the jury's or judge's finding of a statutory aggravating circumstance as enumerated in subsection 2 of section 565.032 and any other circumstance found; (3) Whether the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime, the strength of the evidence and the defendant.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Dorsey · State v. Griffin

2. “Photographs are generally admissible if they are relevant to a material issue. State v. Murray, 744 S.W.2d 762, 772 (Mo. banc 1988). Photographs, although gruesome, may be admitted where they show the nature and location of wounds, where they enable the jury to better understand the testimony, and where they aid in establishing any element of the state’s case. Id.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Feltrop · State v. Mathis

3. “In this case, the evidence was that after the [petitioner] and two accomplices robbed Jackson, Stewart, Claudia Hennings, and Gladys Nutall, they bound and gagged Jackson and Stewart, placed them on their knees, and then beat the two men while demanding more. Knives were repeatedly stabbed into the floor near the men to further frighten them. Then, after Hennings escaped out the window, Nutall saw the defendant hold Stewart up and shoot him in the back. When police arrived on the scene Jackson and Stewart were found dead of bullet wounds caused by bullets fired from the same weapon. At trial, the [petitioner's] only defense was that it was not him but rather one of his accomplices that shot the men. He did not try to prove that the murders did not take place or that they took place in a manner different from that testified to by Hennings and Nutall. He did not even deny his presence at the apartment. He tried only to throw doubt on the accuracy of Nutall's identification of him as the killer. The [petitioner] contends that this evidence supports the submission of a second degree murder instruction because it permits a jury to find that the [petitioner] and his accomplices reacted to Hennings' escape with panic and shot Jackson and Stewart in reflex rather than after deliberation. There is no evidence to support this theory and it is belied by Nutall's testimony that the [petitioner] held Stewart up before shooting him in the back. Such testimony is consistent only with the ki”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Murray v. Delo