State v. Hummel’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The evidence that Alice vanished suddenly and surprisingly, never to be heard from again; that she was close with her children and was unlikely to simply abandon them; that, without explanation, she failed to attend a special event for her daughter’s birthday; and that the failure to complete a work assignment was out of character leads to a reasonable and logical inference that she is deceased. The evidence that her daughter revealed Hummel’s molestation just days before Alice’s disappearance, that Hummel continued to molest his daughter after his wife vanished, that he lied to his children about Alice’s belonging and whereabouts, that he forged Alice’s signature on documents, and that he stole Alice’s pension immediately after she vanished leads to a logical and reasonable inference that Alice is dead and that her death is the result of a criminal agency on the part of Hummel.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 196 Wash. App. 329 - State Of Washington v. Bruce Allen Hummel