Swiger v. Brown’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 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The problem in this case was not Swig-er’s lack of understanding about the risks of self-representation, which he understood. The problem was that a defendant cannot be permitted to stop the criminal justice process in its tracks by rejecting appointed counsel and refusing self-representation, which is effectively what he did. Perhaps in other circumstances, it would have been wise for the trial court to grant Swiger’s motion for a continuance once his decision became clear. But in view of Swiger’s failure to appear for his first trial and in view of the eight days the court had given him to think through his options, the approach the court took was a defensible one.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. King v. Bobby

2. “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Von Carruthers v. Mays

3. “be made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Von Carruthers v. Mays