Daniels v. Greenfield’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[J.D.] was born to Rozine Cerine and the decedent, Shea Daniels. Rozine had been married to Willie Washington in 1999, but they separated in 2000 when Washington moved away and joined the military. She met Shea in May 2000, and [J.D.] was born in September 2001. Shea’s name was listed on the birth certificate as the father. Shea and Rozine had a difficult relationship, but he supported Rozine and [J.D.] by paying support of $50-70 per week. He also bought clothes for [J.D.]. His mother, Dorothy, visited with [J.D.] on occasion. Rozine filed a petition to determine paternity and for child support against Shea in October 2004. Shea answered, demanding a DNA test, which was ordered but never conducted because Shea failed to appear. He was defaulted in the paternity proceeding, but a judgment establishing paternity was never entered. In November 2004, Rozine obtained a divorce from Willie Washington. The record does not contain a copy of the divorce decree. Shea committed suicide in 2005, and his mother brought a wrongful death action on behalf of [J.D.] against a psychiatrist and hospital. Both answered and claimed that [J.D.] was not a surviv- or, because the presumption of legitimacy required that Willie Washington be deemed Shea’s legal father. Thus, [J.D.] could not be a survivor of Shea. During the proceedings, the plaintiff conducted a paternity test which showed that Shea was the biological father of [J.D.]. Although the court questioned whether such a test should have be”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 51 So. 3d 421 - Greenfield v. Daniels

2. “survivor” under the statute, and stated: The statute [§ 768.18(1) ] does not require a legal determination of paternity. It merely requires recognition by the biological father of a responsibility of support. There is no presumption of legitimacy within the statute which would preclude [J.D.] from his ability to claim loss based upon his surviv-orship status. Thus, the statute appears to benefit the child by permitting recovery from the biological father without undermining the relationship that the child might have with a”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 51 So. 3d 421 - Greenfield v. Daniels

3. “includes the child born out of wedlock of a mother, but not the child born out of wedlock of the father unless the father has recognized a responsibility for the child’s support.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 51 So. 3d 421 - Greenfield v. Daniels