Schielack v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In the present case, the testimony which [Schielack] sought to introduce was neither [evidence of the circumstances of the offense itself or the defendant himself]. In fact, the testimony consisted of another person's experiences in prison. There is no evidence that [Schielack's] experience would be the same. As such, we believe that the trial court's decision to exclude this testimony was at least within the zone of reasonable disagreement; therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Zunker v. State · Klock v. State

2. “[Schultze] argues that Schielack is not instructive because Hall’s “testimony was not offered to show what [Schultze]’s experiences would be.” However, during the defendants’ bill of exception, Hall testified, at length, about the consequences of being “fresh meat” in prison. After the recitation, Zunker’s attorney and [Schultze]’s attorney asked Hall to comment as to whether each of the defendants would be treated as “fresh meat.” Zunker’s counsel asked Zunker to stand and then asked Hall, “What about a white male that’s never been to prison before that’s his size and weight. Is he going to be considered fresh meat or not?” [Schultze]’s attorney then asked [Schultze] to stand, and he asked Hall, “Are the things that you said pertaining to Mr. Zunker ..., would that go for Mr. Schultze as well?” “Yes. It will go for anybody that goes into the system that’s never been there before.” Contrary to [Schultze]’s assertion on appeal, Hall’s testimony was elicited specifically to educate the jury on what [Schultze]’s prison experiences would be. The trial court could have reasonably concluded that Hall’s testimony would not have been helpful to the jury in determining the appropriate sentence in this case. Also, the trial court could have reasonably concluded that Hall’s testimony went beyond the scope of any door opened by the State. Under the precedent of Mendiola , the trial court’s decision to exclude the testimony of Hall was at least within the zone of reasonable disagreement. ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 622 F. Supp. 2d 439 - Schultze v. Quarterman