Vasquez v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

96 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 96 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “a defense from simply recognizing that a defense has been raised by the evidence. Counsel should have recognized that appellant's testimony was sufficient to raise the defense, and that appellant had nothing to lose by requesting a defensive instruction. Without giving the jury an opportunity to consider a defense, conviction was ...”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Storr v. State · Green v. State

2. “Id. at 950 n. 3. In Vasquez , the appellant was convicted of the offense of possession of a firearm by a felon. Id. at 949 . Appellant admitted to the offense, but his testimony reflected that the justification defense of necessity was appropriate, and necessity, in fact, was the only defense raised by the evidence. Id. at 950-51 . Yet, his trial counsel did not request a special instruction on necessity or object to the court's charge. In light of these facts, the court concluded the appellant's trial counsel was”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Storr v. State

3. “might have intentionally opted not to request and argue a necessity defense” due to the implausibility of the defendant’s testimony. Id. at 951 (Benavides, J., joined by McCormick, P.J. and White, J., dissenting). The majority in Vasquez thus rejected the notion that, although raised by the evidence, counsel might have chosen not to urge the defense. . A trial court’s rulings made through-out the course of trial are always viewed in light of the”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Posey v. State