State v. Osborne’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 177 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 183 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “if the instruction omitted an element which was at issue in the case, the error could be considered fundamental: The question of guilt would be so doubtful that it would `shock the conscience' of this Court to permit the conviction to stand.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Lopez · State v. Acosta

2. “[I]t is the duty of the court, not the defendant, to instruct the jury on the essential elements of a crime.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Acosta · State v. Barber

3. “First, although a defendant may have contributed to the error by his own failures at trial, the defendant may not be held to have “created” the error____ [Under Rule 5-608(A) ] it is the duty of the court, not the defendant, to instruct the jury on the essential elements of a crime. Second, it simply does not contravene the “orderly and equitable administration of justice” to ensure that the state has met its burden of proving each of the essential elements of a crime required for conviction. On the contrary, the orderly and equitable administration of justice requires that we correct any such error notwithstanding the defendant’s responsibility for or complicity in the error.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Lopez · State v. Acosta