93 Md. App. 240 - Gee v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The only defense that could have been asserted in this case was for each of the appellants to point an accusing finger at the other. A lawyer, equally dedicated to the fortunes of both, was frozen into inactivity because he could not aid and abet such finger-pointing. Coffey’s only defense was to deny any involvement in criminal activity. An advocate championing his cause to the exclusion of all other masters would have had no compunction in assassinating Gee. “Gee alone was in possession of heroin; my client was not.” A hard-hitting champion for Coffey might have flailed Gee as a known “junkie” in the neighborhood and would have insisted that the observed transfer was nothing more than Coffey’s repayment of a $5.00 loan. Since the contraband was found only on the body of Gee, Coffey’s only viable defense was to distance himself from Gee in every way possible, callously leaving Gee hanging out to dry in the process. Because Coffey’s defender was also loyal to Gee, however, he was totally inhibited from attempting in any such fashion to “lay off the blame.” The sin of divided loyalty, as it afflicted Coffey, was in nothing his lawyer did but in what his lawyer found himself “compelled to refrain from doing,” from his unavoidable “erosion of zeal.””

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

2. ““Additional conflict problems may arise after indictment but prior to trial. A defendant, recognizing his guilt, may wish to pursue the possibility of disposing of the charges against him without a trial. It is often in the defendant’s best interest to cooperate with the prosecution as a witness against a codefendant in exchange for a reduced plea or recommendation of more lenient treatment at sentencing. The assistance of independent counsel in making this determination is vital if the defendant is to make an intelligent choice. An attorney representing codefendants or associates who would be damaged by the defendant’s testimony would necessarily find himself in an untenable position. To advise a defendant-witness to cooperate would hurt his other clients. To advise a defendant-witness not to cooperate, when his best interests dictate otherwise, would be to render ineffective assistance.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Attorney Grievance Commission v. Kent

3. “It is ... beyond dispute that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is breached and “effective representation is lacking ... if counsel, unknown to the accused and without his knowledgeable assent, is in a duplicitous position where his full talents—as a vigorous advocate having the single aim of acquittal by all means fair and honorable—are hobbled or fettered or restrained by commitment to others.””

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