Brown v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 100 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 105 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[w]hen evidence which is admissible . . . for one purpose but not admissible . . . for another purpose is admitted, the court, upon request, shall restrict the evidence to its proper scope and instruct the jury accordingly.”

   10 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jones v. State · Moss v. State

2. “Brown urges that the prosecution must include in the indictment any aggravating factors which it intends to prove at the sentencing phase of the trial, and that because his indictment did not include a statutory aggravating factor or a mens rea element it is constitutionally infirm. This is not our law. The major purpose of any indictment is to furnish the accused a reasonable description of the charges so an adequate defense might be prepared. See Williams v. State, 445 So.2d 798, 804 (Miss.1984). Accordingly, all that is required in the indictment is a clear and concise statement of the elements of the crime charged. Id. at 804 . Our death penalty statute clearly states the only aggravating circumstances which may be relied upon by the prosecution in seeking the ultimate punishment. Williams, 445 So.2d at 805 . Thus, every time an individual is charged with capital murder they are put on notice that the death penalty may result. See Stevens v. State, 867 So.2d 219, 227 (Miss.2003). This is the law of our state. Brown urges that the United States Supreme Court cases of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 , 120 S.Ct. 2348 , 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 , 122 S.Ct. 2428 , 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), bolster his position. They do not. We have previously discussed these cases at length and concluded that they address issues wholly distinct from our law, and do not address indictments at all. See Stevens, 867 So.2d at 225-27 . This issue is without merit”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Byrom v. State · Corrothers v. State

3. “You are to begin your deliberations with the presumption that there are no aggravating circumstances that would warrant a sentence of death, and the presumption that the appropriate punishment in [this] case would be life imprisonment. These presumptions remain with Mr. Moffett throughout the sentencing hearing, and can only be overcome if the prosecution convinces each one of you, beyond a reasonable doubt, that death is the only appropriate punishment.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 49 So. 3d 1073 - Moffett v. State · 158 So. 3d 1009 - Curtis Giovanni Flowers v. State of Mississippi