Romero v. Lynaugh’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 federal appellate · 4 district · 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 44 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]he selection of a jury is inevitably a call upon experience and intuition. The trial lawyer must draw upon his own insights and empathetic abilities. Written records give us only shadows for measuring the quality of such efforts.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Litherland · 172 Conn. App. 843 - Antwon W. v. Commissioner of Correction

2. “[W]e are also not prepared to fault [counsel’s] effort to highlight the heavy responsibility of the jury by not burdening them with the obvious.... To do so comes close to insisting on a pro forma argument in every case. Had the jury returned a life sentence the strategy might well have been seen as a brilliant move. That it did not does not mean that it was outside the range of reasonable professional assistance. 17”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 103 F. Supp. 2d 749 - Marshall v. Hendricks · Waters v. Thomas

3. “'[T]he selection process is more an art than a science, and more about people than about rules.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Froman · 172 Conn. App. 843 - Antwon W. v. Commissioner of Correction