143 N.C. App. 672 - State v. Rourke’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““[t]he plain error rule ... is always to be applied cautiously and only in the exceptional case where, after reviewing the entire record, it can be said the claimed error is a ‘fundamental error, something so basic, so prejudicial, so lacking in its elements that justice cannot have been done,’ or ‘where [the error] is grave error which amounts to a denial of a fundamental right of the accused,’ or the error has ‘ “resulted in a miscarriage of justice or in the denial to appellant of a fair trial.” ’ ””

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 154 N.C. App. 148 - State v. Perkins · 220 N.C. App. 495 - State v. Houseright

2. “Plain error is an error which was “so fundamental as to amount to a miscarriage of justice or which probably resulted in the jury reaching a different verdict than it otherwise would have reached.” To prevail under a plain error analysis, a defendant must establish not only that the trial court committed error, but that absent the error, the jury probably would have reached a different result.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 159 N.C. App. 312 - State v. Poag

3. “[T]he defendant who fails to object to evidence at trial bears the burden of proving that the trial court committed plain error.”

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