State v. Taylor’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

39 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 39 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “First, it is conceded by the State and the defendant that a driver’s blood alcohol content increases for a period of time after consumption and then begins to decrease as the alcohol is eliminated, principally through metabolism. See 2 D. Nichols, Drinking/Driving Litigation § 23:01 (1985). Extrapolation, however, requires evidence that the State will rarely be able to acquire because of the defendant’s constitutional right to remain silent. Extrapolation requires evidence as to when, and in what amounts, the defendant consumed the alcohol prior to driving. Without this information, which is wholly within the defendant’s knowledge in the vast majority of cases, extrapolation of blood alcohol content back to the time of driving becomes an impossible task. The legislature could not have intended to place such an impossible burden on the State. Second, even if the State were able to obtain evidence as to the exact time and the precise amount of alcohol consumed by the defendant prior to his driving, conclusive evidence of the blood alcohol content at the time of driving could still not be offered to the jury in the guise of a general rule because the rate of absorption of alcohol varies considerably between individuals. One study found that the peak blood alcohol level is reached, after consumption, in anywhere from 14 to 138 minutes. Nichols, supra § 23:05 (Supp.1989). The extrapolation evidence is further complicated by the amount of food consumed by the defendant at the time ”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Mechler · Poulnot v. District of Columbia

2. “It is impossible as a practical matter for a test to reflect a defendant’s exact blood alcohol content at the precise time he was driving, as there is necessarily some lag time between the driving and the administration of the test, during which the officer determines whether a test is necessary, and, if so, secures the driver’s car and transports the driver to the test location. Furthermore, both the statute and the administrative rules pertaining to the administration of the tests for blood alcohol content require the passage of time both explicitly and implicitly.. . . Common sense indicates that the defendant may, on many occasions, have to wait for a reasonable period of time for a certified intoximeter operator to arrive at the police station to take a breath test, or for a certified health care provider to arrive at a medical facility to take a blood test. These delays are unavoidable, given the procedures established to secure accurate test results, a goal that is desired by defendants and the State alike. Since a test cannot reflect a defendant’s blood alcohol content at precisely the moment he was driving, were we to follow the defendant’s reasoning, no test could ever be prima facie, or stand alone as, evidence of intoxication at the time of driving, since the State would always be required to present further evidence to prove a nexus between the test result and the defendant’s blood alcohol content at the moment he was driving. Such a result is contrary to RSA 265”

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

3. “Although RSA 265:89 (Supp. 1988) employs the phrase “at the time alleged,” we interpret a statute so as not to produce an illogical result____We also examine a statute in relation to the statutory scheme.... With these principles in mind, we conclude that RSA 265:89 (Supp. 1988) does not require the State to demonstrate a conclusive nexus between the test result and the defendant’s blood alcohol content at the precise time he was driving, before the test can be admitted as prima facie evidence that the defendant was intoxicated while driving.”

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