783 So. 2d 459 - State v. Pendelton’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

26 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Any question that you may have had about the pieces of the puzzle fitting together and whether he did it or whether he didn’t should |18have been cleared up through her testimony. There should be no question in your mind but that the individual who dropped that black calendar book, who left his driver’s license and the other identifying information that allowed the police to focus on James Pendelton as a suspect points to him. And all of that becomes crystal-clear when you consider the testimony of the victim in this case. She was a little shaky. She was a little upset. She is a victim of a robbery. She had to come into a courtroom and testify. But she was clear in one critical regard: That that’s the man that robbed me back on June 17th. No evidence presented to contradict that. And, of course, what I say—”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 862 So. 2d 225 - State v. Cowart · 36 So. 3d 351 - State v. Davis

2. “"When the prosecutor makes a direct reference to the defendant's failure to take the stand, a mistrial should be declared, and `it is irrelevant whether the prosecutor intended for the jury to draw unfavorable inferences from defendant's silence.'" When the reference to the defendant's failure to take the stand is not direct, this Court will inquire into the remark's "intended effect on the jury" in order to distinguish indirect references to the defendant's failure to testify (which are impermissible) from statements that are not (which are permissible, though not favored). In order to support the granting of a mistrial, the inference must be plain that the remark was intended to focus the jury's attention on the defendant's not testifying. There are indirect references which focus on, or are intended to focus on a defendant's failure to testify. One such instance is when the defendant is the only witness who can rebut the state's evidence. Such a reference to the testimony as uncontroverted focuses the jury's attention on the defendant's failure to testify and warrants a mistrial. Then, there are and can be indirect references which are not intended to focus on a defendant's not testifying. One such frequently seen instance is a prosecutor's emphasizing that the State's evidence is unrebutted in a situation where there are witnesses other than the defendant who could testify on behalf of the defense, but have not. Also "[s]tatements in argument to the effect that there is n”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 862 So. 2d 225 - State v. Cowart

3. “(2) If at the time of the commission of the offense the offender is under the jurisdiction and legal custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, or is being detained in any jail, prison, correctional facility, juvenile institution, temporary holding center, halfway house, or detention facility, the offender shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned with or without hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for not less than one year nor more than five years. Such sentence shall be consecutive to any other sentence imposed for violation of the provisions of any state criminal law.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 885 So. 2d 618 - State v. Lawson