State v. Spruill’s Empirical Analysis
1954
Citation profile
40 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 40 later decisions — most recently August 2019 · most notably State v. Green (1981), State v. Begyn (1961)
40 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 Alford v. United States · Trinity County Lumber Co. v. Denham · State v. Lennon · State v. Hyer · State v. Bove
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 40 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“* * * we are clear that there cannot be an arbitrary refusal to instruct the jury in specific terms that the evidence of an accomplice is to be carefully scrutinized and assessed in the context of his special interest in the proceeding * * *”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““® * * Accomplices, tainted as they are with confessed criminality, are often influenced in their testimony by the strong motive of hope of favor or pardon; and so it is incumbent upon the courts to ‘look carefully into the secret motives that might actuate bad minds to draw in and victimize the innocent.’ State v. Hogan, 13 N. J. Misc. 117 (Sup. Ct. 1935), affirmed 115 N. J. L. 531 (E. & A. 1935). The fact that co-conspirators have turned ‘State’s, evidence’ naturally affects ‘injuriously the credit to be given to their testimony’; for it is ‘suggestive, at least, of a bargain between them and the State authorities with relation to the punishment which would be inflicted upon them in case their testimony aided in bringing about’ the conviction of the accused. State v. Black, 97 N. J. L. 361 (Sup. Ct. 1922).””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. State v. Gardner““It bears against a witness’ credibility that he is an accomplice in the crime charged and testifies for the prosecution; and the pendency of any indictment against the witness indicates indirectly a similar possibility of his currying favor by testifying for the State.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. State v. Jutras
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.