158 Md. App. 673 - Smith v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Should an eyewitness identification instruction always include a laundry list of specific factors based on the perceived common knowledge of men and women? When does such an instruction constitute an improper comment on the evidence by the court? More to the point here, if race is to be identified as a factor, should the same be true for ethnicity and other analogous factors? What is the rule for multi-racial persons? How does one determine race? Is race self-proclaimed? What is the rule for persons who marry persons of another race?”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 240 Md. App. 156 - Kazadi v. State · 166 Md. App. 645 - Janey v. State

2. “You are the sole judges of whether — or judge of whether a witness should be believed. In making this decision you may apply your own common sense and every day experiences. In determining whether a witness should be be lieved you should carefully judge all the testimony and evidence and the circumstances under which the witness testified. You should consider such factors as the witness’s behavior on the stand and manner of testifying, did the witness appear to be telling truth, the witness’s opportunity to see or hear the things about which testimony was given, the accuracy of the witness’s memory, does the witness have a motive not to tell the truth, does the witness have an interest in the outcome of the case, was the witness’s testimony supported or contradicted by evidence that you believe, and whether and the extent to which the witness’s testimony in court differed from the statements made by the witness on any previous occasion. You need not believe any witness, even if the testimony is uncontradicted. You may believe all, part, or none of the testimony of any witness. The burden is on the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offense was committed and the defendant was the person who committed it. You have heard evidence regarding the identification of the defendant as the person who committed the crime. In this connection you should consider the witness’s opportunity to observe the criminal act and the person committing it, including the length of time t”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 166 Md. App. 645 - Janey v. State

3. “In this case, the identifying witness is of a different race than the defendant. In the experience of many, it is more difficult to identify the members of a different race than members of one’s own. If this is also your own experience, you may consider it in evaluating the witness’s testimony. You must also consider, of course, whether there are other factors present in this case which overcome any such difficulty of identification. For example, you may conclude that the witness has had sufficient contacts with members of the defendant’s race that [he] would not have great difficulty in making a reliable identification.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 166 Md. App. 645 - Janey v. State