Hall v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “If it was a fact that when the incident occurred one of the parties to it was under the excitement of strong drink, this fact was one proper to be considered by the jury in weighing the conflicting evidence as to how the difficulty started and what was done by the participants in the course of it. It is not to be doubted that evidence tending to prove that on an occasion in question one was intemperate or insulting in his expressions and hasty or violent in his conduct is strengthened by evidence tending to prove that at that time his ability to act soberly and with discretion was impaired by intoxication. The fact was a relevant one, in that it added to the probability of the defendant's conduct having been such as the evidence unfavorable to him tended to prove. It is common knowledge that one's use of intoxicants is liable to disturb his mental equilibrium, to weaken his power of self-restraint, and to induce hasty and unwarranted utterance and action without a due regard to consequences. The evidence in question, added to the probative effect of that which tended to prove that the defendant, and not his adversary, was at fault in starting the fight, and that in firing the shots he was influenced otherwise than by a purpose to defend himself from a real or reasonably apparent impending peril to life or limb.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 476 So. 2d 116 - Lawson v. State