State v. Audette’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

32 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 32 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[T]he State must prove that Mr. Sargent intended to confine Meg Howard. In this regard the State must prove either, one, that Mr. Sargent consciously desired to physically confine Meg Howard against her will, or, second, Mr. Sargent knew or should have known at the time of the incident that his actions were almost certain to cause the physical confinement of Meg Howard against her will. This means that to find the Defendant guilty of kidnapping, you must find that he acted knowingly or purposefully with regard to his actions, which constituted forcibly confining the victim, Meg Howard. It is sufficient for the prosecution to prove either that the Defendant consciously desired the result, or that he knew or should have known that the result is practically certain to follow from his conduct. (Emphasis added.)”

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

2. “We differentiate Kerr from the present case on two grounds. First, possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony, 13 V.S.A. § 4005, is not a crime having its roots in the common law. Rather, it is a statutory add-on to enhance the punishment of particular offenses when committed with a weapon. Thus, it does not require an assumption that some element of mens rea is required. See United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422, 444-45 (1978). See generally 1 W. LaFave & A. Scott, Substantive Criminal Law § 3.8 (1986). Moreover, possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony has an element of criminal intent since it can only be proven if the underlying felony, which itself has a mens rea requirement, is first established.”

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

3. “[b]ecause the Legislature could not have intended to subject a person to a possible 25 year jail sentence for negligently or recklessly confining a person against her will, and since statutes should be construed as to avoid absurd or unjust results, we find that 13 V.S.A. § 2401 requires purposeful or knowing action by defendant to forcibly restrain his victim in cases where the victim is confined against her will.”

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