Benson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The defendant was introduced as a witness in his own behalf, and upon his cross-examination he was asked if he had pleaded guilty to the crime of petit larceny and had been adjudged guilty of that offense. He testified that he had pleaded guilty and been adjudged guilty of that crime. . . . When a defendant in a criminal case becomes a witness in his own behalf, he is subject to impeachment like any other witness. The testimony which he gives may be discredited in the same manner that this may be done in the case of any other witness. Upon his cross-examination, therefore, he may be questioned relative to specific acts for the purpose of discrediting his testimony, and he may be asked as to whether or not he has suffered a former conviction for some crime affecting his credibility. When a defendant is a witness in his own behalf, the purpose of such testimony is only to impair his credibility and not to exclude him as a witness, and such conviction may be shown, therefore, by his own cross-examination and need not be shown by the record of the judgment.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bockman v. Rorex