Brightman v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Manifest injustice” and “substantial prejudice” ’ are necessarily imprecise standards, and an appellant seeking to overturn a trial court’s decision has faced a high hurdle under the current statute and its predecessors. The trial court’s ruling on a motion to withdraw a guilty plea arrives in this Court with a presumption in favor of the ruling. Still, concerns about injustice carry greater weight- when accompanied by credible evidence of involuntariness, or when the circumstances of the plea reveal that the rights of the accused were violated. Did the defendant understand the allegations to which he was pleading guilty? Did the defendant know about the right to trial? Was the decision to plead made with the benefit of counsel? Did the defendant appreciate the sentencing ramifications of admitting guilt? What was the defendant’s understanding of the bargain struck with the prosecutor? A court must examine questions of this sort to confirm that a defendant is acting freely and knowingly before accepting a guilty plea.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jerome Milian v. State of Indiana · Peel v. State

2. “[the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Williams v. State