Patterson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[The defendant’s] argument mistakenly equates the bias of one grand juror [with] bias on the part of the entire grand jury panel. In the absence of particularized circumstances establishing the likelihood of a significant influence on the grand jury as a whole, we see no legitimate basis for imputing the bias of one grand juror to others. Because the grand jury voted unanimously to indict ..., and because [the defendant] has, at most, established bias on the part of only one member of the panel, no deprivation of [the defendant’s] right to a fair and unbiased grand jury has been established.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Worden v. State · Mustafoski v. State

2. “[Standard 3-5.8 of the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice] restricts argument to the evidence presented at trial and the inferences that may fairly be drawn therefrom. It prohibits the prosecutor from expressing a personal belief as to the evidence, from making appeals calculated to inflame passions and prejudices of the jury, and from advancing arguments based on the consequences of the verdict or on issues other than the guilt or innocence of the accused.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hess v. State · Smith v. State