Blackmon v. Booker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Testimony regarding Petitioner’s alleged gang membership was not necessary for the prosecution to establish its case and had little probative value.... There was no evidence indicating the shooting was motivated by gang activity. To the contrary, the testimony revealed that the shooting arose from a domestic situation involving Nancy Ellis, Kenyatta Simons, and Duane Harris [ie., Jimmy Crost], The prosecution offered testimony to demonstrate a friendship between [Crost] and Petitioner and had no cause to resort to the introduction of gang-affiliation testimony and argument to show motive, particularly since [Crost] and Petitioner both denied gang membership.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Blackmon v. Booker

2. “Most witnesses, including Michael Hearn, Tiffany Smith, Nancy Ellis, and Adrienne Ellis, denied being afraid of Petitioner. Several witnesses, including Michael Hearn, Nancy Ellis, Adrienne Ellis, and Arthur Anderson, stated that they were pressured by police and intimidated by prosecuting authorities. Of the witnesses who seemed reluctant to testify, only one, Arthur Anderson, indicated that he feared Petitioner because of his gang membership. However, Anderson then clarified that he felt intimidated and was reluctant to testify because it was a murder trial. Anderson further stated that he would have felt the same way no matter who was on trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Blackmon v. Booker

3. “[T]he admission of the gang evidence eroded the presumption of innocence because it encouraged jurors to find Petitioner guilty of offenses based upon his purported gang affiliation rather than the evidence presented at trial. Such a process is inconsistent with the demands of due process and the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial. Given the limited probative value of the gang affiliation testimony and its highly prejudicial effect upon the jury, this court concludes that the trial court constitutionally erred in admitting such testimony.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Blackmon v. Booker