750 So. 2d 6 - Bates v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 47 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 51 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[A]ppellant contends that the fact that he was already sentenced to two life terms plus fifteen years and that those sentences were to run consecutively to the sentence for the murder was relevant mitigation "in the sense that [it] might serve as a basis for a sentence less than death." We have rejected similar arguments in Franqui v. State, 699 So.2d 1312, 1326 (Fla.1997); Marquard v. State, 641 So.2d 54 (Fla.1994); and Nixon v. State, 572 So.2d 1336 (Fla. 1990). These other sentences are not relevant mitigation on the issue of whether appellant will actually remain in prison for the length of those sentences. The length of actual prison time is affected by many factors other than the length of the sentence imposed by the sentencing court. The introduction of this evidence would open the door to conjecture and speculation as to how much time a prisoner serves of a sentence and distract jurors from the relevant issue of what is the appropriate sentence for the murder conviction.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Bates v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections · Booker v. State

2. “is not a comparison between the number of aggravating and mitigating circumstances; rather, it is a `thoughtful, deliberate proportionality review to consider the totality of the circumstances in a case, and to compare it with other capital cases.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lawrence v. State · 855 So. 2d 33 - Duest v. State

3. “In evaluating whether there was an abuse of discretion courts have applied a two-part test: (1) whether the defendant made a particularized showing of need; and (2) whether the defendant was prejudiced by the Court's denial of the motion requesting the expert assistance.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 801 So. 2d 877 - Overton v. State