949 So. 2d 1021 - Jones v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 14 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. “down into the validity of the trial itself to the extent that a verdict of guilty could not have been obtained without the assistance of the alleged error.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 997 So. 2d 382 - Poole v. State · 985 So. 2d 524 - Woodel v. State

2. “Jones provides no support for his contention that the State’s presentation of evidence of the physical condition of McRae’s body was objectionable. Evidence of the condition of the victim’s body as found by the police was clearly relevant. Further, [trial counsel] Buzzell testified that defense counsel were aware that the State believed that the evidence supported the inference of a sexual assault and that the defense strategy was to expose the weaknesses in the State’s theory. On cross-examination of serologist Diane Hanson, defense counsel elicited testimony that a presumptive test for the presence of semen on an area of Jones’ jeans came back negative. Defense counsel also elicited testimony from the medical examiner that the condition of the victim’s clothes suggested that she had been dragged to the area where she was found, and testimony from McRae’s husband that at times McRae did not wear underwear with her jeans. Counsel’s strategic decision to rebut the State’s suggestion of a possible sexual assault on cross-examination, rather than object to the evidence, cannot be considered unreasonable under the circumstances of this case. In addition, Jones does not identify specifically which comments in the prosecutor’s opening statements and closing arguments were objectionable. We assume Jones is referring to the prosecutor’s opening statements regarding the condition of McRae’s body and the closing argument that McRae’s shoes may have been off because Jones wanted her pan”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Jones v. Secretary, Department of Corrections

3. “In this case the jury was informed that Jones used a racial slur when he first gave his version of events to explain the scratches on his face in an attempt to deny his involvement in the murder. The detective did not repeat the racial slur but only indicated that a racial slur was used. Therefore, in this case we do not agree that the comments constituted impermissible appeals to the biases or prejudices of the jurors. ... [I]n this case, we do not find that there was any attempt to inject race as an issue in the trial, or an impermissible appeal to bias and prejudice. We further note that Jones was a white male charged with murdering a white female. In addition, the actual racial slur was not used before the jury and the comment was not repeated or subsequently highlighted. Based on the foregoing, we find that even if the admission of this reference to Jones using a racial slur was error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant also argues in this point on appeal that the prosecutor elicited improperly prejudicial testimony that the defendant had a spider web tattoo on his elbow, allegedly associated with white supremacist gang activity. The only evidence regarding the tattoo during the trial was elicited from ... [two] witnesses [who] testified that they noticed Jones’ distinctive spider web tattoo at the time they encountered him [when he attempted to have the interior of McRae’s Blazer cleaned], and Jones was asked to display this tattoo for the jury. There ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Jones v. Secretary, Department of Corrections