Ex Parte Jackson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Here, the circuit court properly found that the jury’s recommendation of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was a mitigating circumstance that, based on the fact that the recommendation was unanimous was entitled to great weight. The court stated that it felt compelled to override the jury’s recommendation based on evidence that the jury was not privy to in reaching its recommendation. First, the circuit court noted that the court had access to Doster’s extensive criminal record. The court then noted that the jury was never informed what offense that Doster was convicted of and was serving his sentence for when he escaped from the Covington County jail, nor was the jury informed that Doster escaped a second time in 2005. The court then found that the jury was very emotional during sentencing, that Doster’s mother cried when she testified, that the court noticed that jurors were visibly upset, and that the jurors deliberated for only a few minutes after Doster’s mother begged them to spare her son’s life. “After reviewing the circuit court’s very thorough order, it is clear that the circuit court meticulously complied with Alabama Supreme Court law when overriding the jury’s recommendation. Our review of the record also convinces this Court that although Doster was not the man who fired the fatal shot he was a major participant in the events leading to LeMaster’s death and even led Phillips to the site of the murder. The circuit court’s conclusions and findin”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lockhart v. State · Shonelle Andre Jackson v. State of Alabama.

2. “"The test for the voluntariness of an extrajudicial confession or an inculpatory statement is whether, in light of all the surrounding circumstances, the statement was free from inducement, threat, or promise, either expressed or implied, that would have produced in the mind of the accused any fear of harm or hope of favor."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 914 So. 2d 372 - Minor v. State · 914 So. 2d 883 - Eggers v. State

3. “"A motion in limine is the proper method by which to prohibit the introduction of irrelevant evidence. Wiley v. State , 516 So.2d 812 , 814 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986), rev'd on other grounds, 516 So.2d 816 (Ala. 1987). The decision to grant or deny such a motion rests within the sound discretion of the trial court and that decision will not be overturned on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. Id . The test for relevancy is whether the evidence `bears any logical relationship to the ultimate inference for which it is offered.' Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Lavoie , 470 So.2d 1060 , 1078 (Ala. 1984); see also C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 21.01(1) (5th ed. 1996); Garner v. State , 606 So.2d 177 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992)."”

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