State v. Gonzalez’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Appellee Rolando Gonzalez pleaded guilty without the benefit of a plea bargain to three felony cases of delivery of marijuana. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, the trial court assessed punishment at three years' confinement in two of the cases and five years' probation in the third case. One week later, Gonzalez filed a motion for new trial in each of the cases. In his motion, Gonzalez requested, `in the interest of justice,' that he be allowed to present witnesses who were unavailable at the time of the earlier proceeding. At a hearing on the motion, Gonzales called only one witness—his uncle, who is the chairman for the Commission for Drug and Substance Abuse for the City of Dallas. The witness testified that he was unavailable at the time of the earlier proceeding, and he requested that a new trial be granted so that his testimony could be considered. Although the witness said nothing about the content of his testimony, Gonzalez's lawyer represented that this witness's testimony could have a substantial impact on the court's consideration upon retrial. The State did not cross-examine the witness or controvert his testimony. The State only asked that the court deny the motion. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court granted the motion for new trial....”

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

2. “... It is well established that the granting or denying of a motion for new trial lies within the sound discretion of the trial court. Appleman v. State, 531 S.W.2d 806, 810 (Tex.Cr.App.1975); Fielding v. State, 719 S.W.2d 361, 364 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1986. pet. ref'd). This principle, as applied to criminal cases, has been scrutinized exclusively in cases in which the trial court denied a motion for new trial because the State only recently attained the statutory right to appeal the granting of a motion for new trial.... * * * * * * Both the granting and the denying of a motion for new trial rest within the discretion of the trial court, and appellate courts ordinarily will not reverse that decision unless the trial court has abused its discretion. [ Fielding, 719 S.W.2d at 364 .]”

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

3. “... [A] trial court does not lose its discretion to grant a motion for new trial even if a defendant fails to comply prima facie with rule 30(b). The rule's list of circumstances under which the trial court must grant a motion for new trial is not an exclusive one. More specifically, we conclude that a trial court may, in its discretion, grant a motion for new trial in the interest of justice.”

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