State v. Wetherbee’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “psychological expert [must] not be perceived by the jury as a 'truth detector'—someone who, by application of scientific method, determines whether the victim is telling the truth about whether the abuse occurred and the abuser's identity”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Weeks · State v. Sims

2. “[a]lthough the psychologist did not explicitly voice his opinion that the victim was truthful, his testimony, when viewed in context, gave the distinct impression that he believed her.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Sims

3. “If the diagnosing expert's examination shed any doubt on the child's credibility, it would be unnatural and uncharacteristic for the expert to testify for the prosecution.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Weeks