Zinger v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

15 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “... We cannot know with any certainty, let alone beyond reasonable doubt, whether appellant would have been convicted had [the wrongfully excluded venireperson] served on his jury. We cannot know whether the State would have used a peremptory strike against [that venireperson] had its challenge for cause been overruled, nor who would have served in [the excluded venireperson's] place had the State used a peremptory challenge against him. If we follow the admonishment of Rule 81(b)(2), none of us can fairly say that the record affirmatively discloses a lack of harm beyond reasonable doubt. * * * ... however much we may suspect that errors such as the one committed in this case did not affect the outcome of trial, however much we may suspect that the jurors who tried appellant were entirely fair in their deliberations, we are not at liberty under the law to ratify the judgment of conviction in this case, nor will we be in subsequent cases where the same error occurs. If it seems to some that this is too harsh a rule, the only solution is to amend or repeal article 35.16.”

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

2. “can never be met in the case of jury selection error because the task is intrinsically too speculative.”

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