State v. Mars’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct are reviewed under the harmless beyond a reasonable doubt standard, which requires an examination of the record and a determination of whether there is a reasonable possibility that the error complained of might have contributed to the conviction.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Silver · State v. DRIESSEN

2. “[T]here is absolutely nothing wrong with expert opinion testimony that bolster's [sic] the credibility of the indicted allegations of sexual abuse, e.g., the victim's physical examination showed injury consistent with sexual abuse, or the victim's psychological evaluation was consistent with sexual abuse. Establishing the credibility of the indicted acts of sexual abuse is what the State's case is all about and is the purpose for such expert testimony in the first place; the fact that such testimony may also indirectly, though necessarily, involve the child's credibility does not render it inadmissible. What is forbidden is expert opinion testimony that "directly addresses the credibility of the victim," i.e., "I believe the victim; I think the victim is telling the truth," or expert opinion testimony that implicitly goes to the ultimate issue to be decided by the jury, when such issue is not beyond the "ken" of the average juror, i.e., "In my opinion, the victim was sexually abused." Although the distinction may seem fine to a layman, there is a world of legal difference between expert testimony that "in my opinion, the victim's psychological exam was consistent with sexual abuse," and expert testimony that "in my opinion, the victim was sexually abused." In the first situation, the expert leaves the ultimate issue/conclusion for the jury to decide; in the second, the weight of the expert is put behind a factual conclusion which invades the province of the jury by providing ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Silver

3. “Hawai'i Rules of Penal Procedure Rule 52(b) states that plain errors or defects affecting substantial rights may be noticed although they were not brought to the attention of the court. Therefore, an appellate court may recognize plain error when the error committed affects substantial rights of the defendant. The appellate court will apply the plain error standard of review to correct errors which seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings, to serve the ends of justice, and to prevent the denial of fundamental rights. This court’s power to deal with plain error is one to be exercised sparingly and with caution because the plain error rule represents a departure from a presupposition of the adversary system—that a party must look to his or her counsel for protection and bear the cost of counsel’s mistakes.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Kong