Vincent v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1922
Citation profile
27 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 28 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 1987 · most notably Ferguson v. Georgia (1961), Boyd v. State (1951)
27 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Nash v. United States · Thompson v. United States · Travelers Insurance v. Sheppard · Mann v. State · Keener v. State
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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“To justify a homicide, the fears of the slayer must be those of a reasonable man, one reasonably courageous, reasonably self-possessed, and not those of a coward. Teal v. State, 22 Ga. 76 (68 Am D. 482); Gallery v. State, 92 Ga. 464 (3) ( 17 SE 863 ); Dover v. State, 109 Ga. 485 ( 34 SE 1030 ); Coleman v. State, 141 Ga. 731 (5), 736 ( 82 SE 228 ); Williams v. State, 145 Ga. 177 ( 88 SE 958 ); Smoot v. State, 148 Ga. 306 ( 96 SE 561 ). Under these decisions the killing must be viewed from the standpoint of a reasonably courageous man. If the defendant happens to be a man not reasonably courageous, then the killing can not be viewed from his standpoint ... A defendant may kill another honestly believing that it is necessary to kill to save his own life or to prevent the commission of a felony upon his person; and yet he would not be justified, if the circumstances surrounding him at the time were not sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable man. A timid man may kill, honestly believing that his life is in danger or that a felony is about to be committed upon his person. Still he will not be justified unless his fears come up to the standard fixed by this section of the Penal Code.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Daniels v. State
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.