995 So. 2d 233 - Morton v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Although this 2004 brain mapping study had not yet been published at the time of [the defendant's] trials, [the defendant] or his counsel could have discovered similar research at that time that stated that the human brain was not fully developed until early adulthood.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Robert Joe Long v. State of Florida · 236 So. 3d 981 - Eric Scott Branch v. State of Florida & SC18-218 Eric Scott Branch v. Julie L. Jones, etc.

2. “The United States Supreme Court has referred to the ABA standards as “guides to determining what is reasonable.” Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 524 , 123 S.Ct. 2527 , 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 ). However, Strickland explains: In any case presenting an ineffectiveness claim, the performance inquiry must be whether counsel’s assistance was reasonable considering all the circumstances. Prevailing norms of practice as reflected in American Bar Association standards and the like, e.g., ABA Standards for Criminal Justice 4-1.1 to 4-8.6 (2d ed. 1980) (“The Defense Function”), are guides to determining what is reasonable, but they are only guides. No particular set of detailed rules for counsel’s conduct can satisfactorily take account of the variety of circumstances faced by defense counsel or the range of legitimate decisions regarding how best to represent a criminal defendant. Any such set of rules would interfere with the constitutionally protected independence of counsel and restrict the wide latitude counsel must have in making tactical decisions.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 87 So. 3d 644 - Mendoza v. State

3. “In the past few decades ... neuroscientists have discovered that two key developmental processes, myelination ... and pruning of neural connections, continue to take place during adolescence and well into adulthood .... [B]rain regions responsible for basic life processes and sensory perception tend to mature fastest, whereas the regions responsible for behavioral inhibition and control, risk assessment, decision making, and emotion maturing take longer (Yakovlev & Lecours, 1967).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 236 So. 3d 981 - Eric Scott Branch v. State of Florida & SC18-218 Eric Scott Branch v. Julie L. Jones, etc.