875 So. 2d 37 - State v. Bright’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

42 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 42 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “not whether the defendant would more likely than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence.”

   12 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 137 So. 3d 715 - State v. Warner · State v. Haywood

2. “Information about a witness’s convictions is admissible and can form an important source for impeachment of such witnesses. See, LSA-C.E. art. 609.1; see generally, State v. Tolbert, 03-0330 (La.6/27/03), 849 So.2d 32 . The fact that Thompson was under the supervision of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (“DOC”) at the time of the shooting and could have been subject to parole revocation for violation of the terms of his parole (by drinking, as he admitted doing), gave him the motivation to cooperate with law-enforcement authorities, motivation defendant had a right 11{ito reveal to the jurors. See, e.g., Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 318 , 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1111 , 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974) (Bias may arise from a witness’s vulnerable status as a probationer; the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation includes the right to cross-examine a prosecution witness concerning a possible source of bias.) The importance of such information can be heightened in a case such as defendant’s, where only one witness — the felon whose record the State suppressed — identified defendant. The only evidence relied on to convict defendant was Thompson’s testimony; there were no other witnesses, and there was absolutely no physical evidence.”

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