Williams v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “A review of the purpose of the former proviso to article 44.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is helpful to understanding the scope of appellate review of pleas entered pursuant to plea bargain agreements. Addition of the proviso in 1977 was in response to a rising concern about the large number of appeals from pleas of guilty despite the defendant having agreed to his punishment. See Morgan v. State, 688 S.W.2d 504, 513-14 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (Onion, P.J., dissenting). As originally written, the legislation called for eliminating such appeals entirely, unless the permission of the trial court was obtained. Id. at 514 . A senate floor amendment added an exception giving a right to appeal matters raised by written motion filed prior to trial. Id. The amendment conserved precious judicial resources by encouraging guilty pleas in cases where the only contested issue was some matter raised in a pretrial motion. See Morgan, 688 S.W.2d at 507 ; Ferguson v. State, 571 S.W.2d 908, 910 (Tex.Crim.App.1978).”

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

2. “A defendant in any criminal action has the right of appeal under the rules hereinafter prescribed, provided, however, before the defendant who has been convicted upon either his plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere before the court and the court, upon the election of the defendant, assesses punishment and the punishment does not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant and his attorney may prosecute his appeal, he must have the permission of the trial court, except on those matters which have been raised by written motion filed prior to trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Davis v. State