McCarley v. Kelly’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate ·

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

1. “{¶ 2} Charlene Puffenbarger filed a paternity suit naming McCarley as the fa ther of her two year old son in November of 1991. Charlene filed the suit to obtain child support from McCarley, who initially denied paternity. McCar-ley did not wish to pay Charlene child support as he was already paying child support to Kim Pennington, his former girlfriend and the mother of his six year old son. McCarley threatened Charlene to drop the suit and stated that he would kill her before paying her child support. {¶ } On January 20, 1992[,] at approximately 10:00 a.m., a neighbor came to Charlene’s apartment and found her on the couch. Charlene had several scalp lacerations, defensive wounds on her hands, and a leather strap wrapped twice around her neck. The coroner later estimated that Charlene had died sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. Both of Charlene’s two children were at home when her murder occurred. {¶} When the police arrived at Charlene’s apartment, her three year old son (“D.P.”) repeatedly looked at the uniformed officers and stated: “It was him. He hurt mommy.” Four days later, he made related statements in the presence of Phyllis Puffenbarger, D.P.’s grandmother. D.P. picked up a toy telephone and said things such as: “I am going to get the belt. A policeman. Go kick that window. Phone. Get the stick. I am going to shoot you. * * * A policeman. My mom seen the policeman. * * * What you do that to my mom. * * * Policeman hit my mommy. Put tape on her.” Phyllis testified”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. McCarley v. Kelly

2. “Thank you for referring [D.P.] to me. On January 30th, 1992, I had the opportunity to meet with [D.P.] for a diagnostic interview.... At that time he presented himself as a talented boy with many strengths. However, signs of anxiety and depression were noted. Also, some mild devel opmental delays were evidenced. It is important to realize that [D.P.] has experienced a number of recent psychosocial stressors. These included the following: Change in residency, death of his mother, and alleged witnessing of his mother’s death. On the Parent Rating Scale of the behavior rating profile, [D.P.’s]. maternal grandmother indicated that [D.P.] is shy, clings to parents, and is overly sensitive to teasing. It is important to realize that the maternal grandparents appear to be very concerned about [D.P.] and his behavior. Also, they were in the process of grieving the loss of their daughter. During the clinical interview, [D.P.] initially appeared fearful and guarded. When discussing this area, he reported that the alleged murderer of his mother threatened him with violence. He stated that the man told him he would kill him if he told about the homicide. This area was discussed with [D.P.] as well as safety issues were presented. Then [D.P.] became very verbal and open concerning his mother’s death. It is imperative to realize that [D.P.] reported that he had witnessed the death — I am sorry. When discussing this area, he said two guys, referring to two men, were in the house at mom’s. W”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. McCarley v. Kelly

3. “It is always a pleasure to work with you. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to see [D.P.] and his young brother_ [D.P.] has been seen at my office on four different occasions. At each time, he was very consistent in the details surrounding his mother’s death. He reports that two men came to his mother’s home and that both were Caucasian. He felt that both of the men were dressed in some form of uniform. He consistently stated that the uniforms were black. Also, he indicated that one man had a gun. He reported that his mother knew the men and let them into the home without a struggle. He stated that the two men and his mother had been talking for quite some time, about the length of a TV program such as Sesame Street. Then he reported that the one — that one of the men engaged in an argument with his mother. Allegedly, the argument escalated until the mother was attacked. [D.P.] felt that she had been attacked in the bedroom area. However, [D.P.] slept in the living room, which he could have confused as being the bedroom. When presented with six different photographs, [D.P.] consistently picked a suspect, reporting it was that guy who hit his mother. The different pictures of this man which he has picked and identified as the alleged murderer were reportedly pictures of the alleged father of his brother. Also, he did identify two suspects as being possibly the man’s friend that came to this home. It is important to realize that [D.P.] indicated that the murderer was accomp”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. McCarley v. Kelly