State v. Yazzie’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The sorts of circumstances under which homicide by vehicle can be committed involve the commission of serious traffic offenses which tend to endanger the lives of other individuals on the road. Careless driving is not this sort of offense; therefore, it is reasonable for the legislature to have excluded it from the homicide by vehicle statute. The statutory sentencing scheme which results from this construction also makes logical sense. Since it is a third degree felony, the penalty for homicide by vehicle is three years. See § 66-8-101; NMSA 1978, § 31-18-15(A)(3) (Repl.Pamp.1990). As a fourth degree felony, the penalty for involuntary manslaughter is eighteen months. See § 30-2-3(B); § 31-18-15(A)(4). It is appropriate for the legislature to have provided for a harsher sentence for those individuals who engage in more purposeful dangerous conduct than those individuals who engage in merely careless conduct. Since there is no such crime as homicide by vehicle by careless driving, the State properly charged Defendant with involuntary manslaughter. The State was required to prove that the death occurred during the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony. See § 30-2-3(B). Under the stipulated facts, Defendant admitted that her husband was killed while he was a passenger in a vehicle Defendant drove in a manner consistent with the misdemeanor offense of careless driving. See § 66-8-114. Therefore, the evidence supports Defendant’s conviction for involuntary mansl”

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

2. “We reject the State’s contention that Yazzie stands for the proposition that careless driving can be the basis for an involuntary manslaughter conviction. In Yazzie, the issue was whether the defendant could be convicted of homicide by vehicle, based upon the misdemeanor of careless driving. We determined that the homicide by vehicle statute set out only four specific circumstances under which an individual can be convicted and careless driving is not one of them. Accordingly, we held that “there is no such crime as homicide by vehicle by careless driving.” The alternative charge in Yazzie was involuntary manslaughter by careless driving, a felony, which Yazzie did not challenge, and which we therefore upheld. Yazzie did not argue, as [Yarborough] does here, that involuntary manslaughter cannot be based on careless driving and that the homicide by vehicle statute preempted the field. Therefore, we never addressed the issue of whether a defendant can be convicted of involuntary manslaughter by careless driving. For this reason, Yazzie should be narrowly construed to the precise question decided therein.”

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

3. “(1) driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, (2) driving under the influence of any drug, (3) violating NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-113 (Repl.Pamp.1987) (reckless driving), or (4) violating NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-1(0) (Repl.Pamp.1984) (willfully refusing to come to a stop when so directed by a uniformed officer in a marked police vehicle).”

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