Manzi v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

39 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 39 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The rationale for deference to the original finder of fact is not limited to the superiority of the trial judge’s position to make determinations of credibility. The trial judge’s major role is the determination of fact, and with experience in fulfilling that role comes expertise. Duplication of the trial judge’s efforts in the court of appeals would very likely contribute only negligibly to the accuracy of fact determination at a huge cost in diversion of judicial resources. In addition, the parties to a case on appeal have already been forced to concentrate their energies and resources on persuading the trial judge that their account of the facts is the correct one; requiring them to persuade three more judges at the appellate level is requiring too much. As the Court has stated in a different context, the trial on the merits should be “the ‘main event’ ... rather than a ‘tryout on the road.’ ” For these reasons, review of factual findings under the clearly-erroneous standard — with its deference to the trier of fact — is the rule, not the exception. 50”

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

2. “Appellate courts afford almost total deference to the trial judge’s determination of facts (if those facts are supported by the record) when they review a suppression ruling. That same deferential standard of review applies to a trial court’s determination of historical facts [even] when that determination is based on a videotape recording admitted into evidence at a suppression hearing. Although appellate courts may review de novo indisputable visual evidence contained in a videotape, the appellate court must defer to the trial judge’s factual finding on whether a witness actually saw what was depicted on a videotape or heard what was said during a recorded conversation.”

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

3. “First, these “paper hearings” concern only preliminary rulings or post-conviction matters. They are not permitted at the main event of the trial. There, our constitutions and statutes require witnesses to appear in person and to subject themselves to confrontation and cross-examination. Second, the Texas Legislature has explicitly permitted this “dueling affidavits” process, for both pretrial and post-conviction hearings.”

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