127 Md. App. 103 - Jensen v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 18 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “This “suicide note” was discovered (uncovered may be more accurate) on March 6, 1997, while a Baltimore City police officer was responding to an attempted suicide call at an address in the city that, as it turned out, was Jensen’s home. Jensen conceded that the officer entered the unoccupied house without a warrant lawfully in light of the exigent circumstances. However, she argues that, after finding blood and two knives in the bathtub the officer made a second search as he was leaving, and it was unlawful. Upon noticing that a personal computer was on with its screen saver running, the officer tapped the space bar, causing the following message to appear: “I do not want to live anymore. I have not killed Ted and I have lied. I will go to jail and my prints are there and my blood is there. I did not kill him. There is something very strange going on. I do not want to live. I cannot take the pain of horrible things people do.” Professor Grossman was asked if the mechanical suicide note would have been suppressed had an appropriate motion been filed. He answered “Absolutely!” The State and Mr. Keating agreed, and I heard no facts that would justify a contrary conclusion. Therefore, the State’s answer to this allegation depends upon whether Mr. Keating’s conscious decision to not seek suppression of this “note” was a valid tactical choice and whether its admission was sufficiently prejudicial, standing alone, to have altered the outcome of the trial. Mr. Keating testified that ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 484 F. Supp. 2d 404 - Jensen v. Maloff

2. ““Maryland has long held that there is no difference between direct and circumstantial evidence.” A conviction may be based on circumstantial evidence alone. If guilt is based on a single strand of circumstantial evidence, however, to meet the standard for legal sufficiency, the circumstances must be inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals has made clear that this last-mentioned rule does not apply when the conviction is based on multiple strands of circumstantial evidence. In Hebron, the Court explained: (W)here the circumstantial evidence consists of more than a single strand, ... “an instruction requiring the exclusion of reasonable hypothesis of innocence is not only unwarranted, but improper.” This is so because, in such a ease, the circumstances, taken together and viewed from the State’s perspective, are inconsistent with, although not absolutely dispositive of, the defendant’s innocence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 134 Md. App. 113 - Morgan v. State

3. “1. Whether limited, wholly circumstantial evidence of criminal agency is sufficient to sustain a conviction when the evidence is entirely consistent with a reasonable theory of innocence? 2. Whether the erroneous admission of prejudicial “bad acts” evidence constitutes plain error when such evidence not only precludes a fair trial but, in light of the insufficiency of the evidence, is likely the “but for” reason that the jury rendered a guilty verdict?”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 484 F. Supp. 2d 404 - Jensen v. Maloff