Hernandez v. Chappell’s Empirical Analysis
878 F.3d 843 · 2017
Citation profile
1 district ·
Appellate journey
reviewedthe decision below (from California Central District Court)
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Strickland v. Washington · Wiggins v. Smith, Warden · Harrington v. Richter · McNeill v. United States · Harrington v. Richter
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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(Emphasis added). Thus, even assuming Hernandez dissociated during the murders, the experts' conclusions actually support the inference that Hernandez was at least aware of, and intended, his actions during the rapes. The intent to rape alone is enough to support the murder convictions. Finally, the experts' dissociation theory fails to account for Hernandez's detailed explanation of his actions, thoughts, and motivations during the crimes. Drs. Gur and Lewis surmised that Hernandez's confession suggested that he was in”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“I grabbed her, [held] onto her, and-uh-then she gargled-she like sputtered up-you know-I guess I was choking her too hard, and then I let go, and then she was-I told her to mellow out and to start putting her clothes on, and I turned around to start doing it again, and then she started screaming again and everything, and I just-I don't know-I grabbed her, and I just-I tried to shut her up and ... [g]rabbed her around the throat ... [w]ith one of my hands, and put one of my hands over her mouth to keep her quiet.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“of his crimes is totally contradicted by his detailed confession, the voluntariness and reliability of which Hernandez does not dispute. Even generously construed, these opinions are grossly inadequate to undermine the evidence that Hernandez was capable of forming, and in fact formed, the intent to rape and kill Bristol and Ryan. First, the experts fail to account for the striking similarities between the two crimes. Dr. Gur theorized that mental impairments like Hernandez's could cause someone to”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.