State v. Sosa’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

52 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 52 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A deliberate intention refers to the state of mind of the defendant. A deliberate intention may be inferred from all of the facts and circumstances of the killing. The word deliberate means arrived at or determined upon as a result of careful thought and the weighing of the consideration for and against the proposed course of action. A calculated judgment and decision may be arrived at in a short period of time. A mere unconsidered and rash impulse, even though it includes an intent to kill, is not a deliberate intent to kill. To constitute a deliberate killing, the slayer must weigh and consider the question of killing and his reasons for and against such a choice.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Duran

2. “Based upon the evidence, a reasonable jury could determine that Defendant intended to kill [the victim] when he went to [the victim's] home armed with a gun, waited for him to arrive, and then shot the unarmed victim numerous times.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Balderama

3. “the corpus delicti of an offense is established by proof that the crime was committed, and the identity of the perpetrator is not material.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. OWELICIO