Hill v. Lockhart’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 federal appellate · 2 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A searching review of the entire record convinces us that the District Court’s finding in this regard is not clearly erroneous. This Court has stated that we view a recantation by a convicted codefendant with great skepticism and believe it should be supported by additional, independent evidence whenever possible. Hall [v. Lockhart], 806 F.2d [165] at 168 [(8th Cir.1986)]. Cox stated to the police following his arrest and to the state court in a preliminary hearing held concerning the voluntariness of his confession that he did not shoot Klein and, in fact, did not even see the shooting. Hill readily admitted to the police after his arrest that he shot officer Klein. We agree with the District Court that Cox’s subsequent recantation and testimony at the habeas hearing was incredible and, if introduced at a new trial along with the statements of Cox and Hill after their arrest, the physical evidence at the crime scene, and the testimony of other witnesses, would not be likely to produce an acquittal or a sentence of life imprisonment. Accordingly, Hill is not entitled to any further evidentiary hearing based on this asserted new evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hill v. Lockhart

2. “Hill first argues that his sentence should be set aside because the jury found no mitigating factors despite the fact that Hill was only eighteen at the time of the murder and the youth of the defendant is set out by statute as a mitigating factor to be considered in impos ing the death sentence. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-605 (4) (1987). The jury verdict form concerning mitigating circumstances gave the jury four choices.... The jury selected the fourth option, indicating that they found no evidence of any mitigating circumstance. In rejecting Hill’s argument that the jury’s selection demonstrates that it improperly ignored the evidence of youth placed before it, the Arkansas Supreme Court stated: We do not interpret the jury’s action to mean that they did not consider the evidence of mitigation that was offered. Rather we find the jury determined that the appellant’s youth was not a mitigating factor, as they were entitled to do, and so indicated that no mitigating circumstances were found. Hill, 289 Ark. at 396 , 713 S.W.2d at 238 . We find this interpretation entirely persuasive.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hill v. Lockhart

3. “(1) Hill’s video statement given to the state police was not voluntary; (2) the jury was permitted to ignore evidence of mitigation; (3) the jury was permitted to consider an impermissibly vague, aggravating factor alleging prior acts of violence; (4) the prosecuting attorney’s demonstration of how Hill had reloaded the shotgun after killing Klein constituted prosecutorial misconduct; (5) while the appeal was pending, Cox had submitted a written statement alleging that he, not Hill, had killed Klein; and (6) counsel was ineffective.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hill v. Lockhart