Martinez v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

34 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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “a knife -- a weapon which, by virtue of its very nature, forces the user to be in such close proximity to his victim that he is often touching him or comes into contact with him on each blow.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. King v. State · Martinez v. Johnson

2. ““In deliberating on Special Issue No. 1 and Special Issue No. 2 submitted in this charge, the jury shall consider all evidence admitted at the guilt or innocence stage and the punishment stage of this trial, including evidence of the defendant’s background or character or the circumstances of the offense that militates for or mitigates against the imposition of the death penalty.””

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

3. “The [Supreme] Court ... has upheld the constitutionality of aggravating factors ranging from whether the defendant was a ‘cold-blooded, pitiless slayer,’ to whether the ‘perpetrator inflict[ed] mental anguish or physical abuse before the victim’s death,’ to whether the defendant ‘would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Coble v. State