5 canonical passages across 4 cases, quoted by 26 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side — they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from James v. State.
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James v. State Anchor | green | “fear, emotional strain, and terror of the victim during the events leading up to the murder may make an otherwise quick death especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.” | 6 |
| 2 | Swafford v. State | red | “the victim's mental state may be evaluated for purposes of such determination in accordance with a common-sense inference from the circumstances.” | 6 |
| 3 | Lynch v. State | green | “in determining whether the hac factor was present, the focus should be upon the victim's perceptions of the circumstances as opposed to those of the perpetrator.” | 5 |
| 4 | Brown v. State | green | “the hac aggravator focuses on the means and manner in which death is inflicted and the immediate circumstances surrounding the death.” | 5 |
| 5 | Brown v. State | green | “means and manner in which death is inflicted and the immediate circumstances surrounding the death.” | 4 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment — for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.