150 N.C. App. 280 - State v. Rhue’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. ““A criminal defendant is entitled to introduce evidence of his good character, thereby placing his character at issue. The State in rebuttal can then introduce evidence of defendant’s bad character.” State v. Roseboro, 351 N.C. 536, 553 , 528 S.E.2d 1, 12 , cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1019 , 148 L. Ed. 2d 498 (2000). Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 405(a) (1999), the State may do so by cross-examining a defendant’s character witnesses as to “relevant specific instances of conduct.” Thus, where the defendant in Roseboro introduced testimony from family members regarding his reputation for peacefulness, the State was entitled to cross-examine the witnesses as to whether they knew of any accusations that the defendant acted violently towards his wife. Roseboro, 351 N.C. at 553 , 528 S.E.2d at 12 . Moreover, unlike evidence of prior bad acts being offered under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b) (1999), Rule 405(a) does not contain any time limit or rule regarding remoteness, and our Supreme Court has explicitly refused to impose one. See State v. Cummings, 332 N.C. 487, 507 , 422 S.E.2d 692, 703 (1992). Rather, “[a] ‘relevant’ specific instance of conduct under Rule 405(a) would be any conduct that rebuts the earlier reputation or opinion testimony offered by the defendant.” Id.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 157 N.C. App. 90 - State v. Hargett