142 Md. App. 535 - White v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “According to Md. Rule 5-702, which codified the modern common-law rule regarding expert testimony, a trial court must determine whether the evidence to be presented is a proper subject of expert testimony. The inquiry turns on whether the trier of fact will receive appreciable help from the expert testimony in order to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. The trial court need not consider whether the trier of fact could possibly decide the issue without the expert testimony. Nor must the subject of the expert testimony be so far beyond the level of skill and comprehension of the average layperson that the trier of fact would have no understanding of the subject matter without the expert’s testimony. In ascertaining whether expert testimony will be helpful to the trier of fact, a trial court must instead determine whether certain requirements have been satisfied: (1) the proposed witness must be qualified to testify as an expert; (2) the subject matter about which the witness will testify must be appropriate for expert testimony; and (3) there must be a legally sufficient factual basis to support the expert’s testimony.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 163 Md. App. 451 - Bryant v. State

2. “Simmons established two categories of psychiatric expert testimony, one which is inadmissible as a matter of law, and one which is admissible at the discretion of the trial court. The first category of testimony, under which the expert testifies that the defendant was in fact suffering from a specific psychiatric disorder on the date in question, is inadmissible as a matter of law because it usurps the jury’s function and because a psychiatrist “cannot precisely reconstruct the emotions of a person at a specific time.” [Simmons, 313 Md. at 48 , 542 A.2d 1258 ]. In the trial court’s discretion, however, an expert may testify as to a defendant’s psychiatric profile, from which the jury might infer that the defendant was suffering from the symptoms of that psychiatric disorder on the date in question. “[T]he proffered [expert] testimony has some relevance in that consistency between the specific subjective belief testified to by [the defendant] and [the defendant’s] psychological profile tends to make it more likely that [the defendant] in fact held that subjective belief.” Id.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 163 Md. App. 451 - Bryant v. State

3. “[T]he proffered testimony has some relevance in that consistency between the specific subjective belief testified to by Simmons and Simmons’s psychological profile tends to make it more likely that Simmons in fact held that subjective belief.... Here the judge did not purport to exclude the evidence by the exercise of discretion so that no issue of discretion is before us. The judge erroneously ruled, as a matter of law, that the evidence could not, under any circumstances, be admitted. As the evidence sought to be admitted may have been sufficient to convince the jury that the defendant, if guilty, was guilty of a crime less than murder, its exclusion constitutes reversible error. Accordingly, Simmons must be granted a new trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 163 Md. App. 451 - Bryant v. State