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

1. ““In the present case, Fuller urges this Court to follow Diggs . Fuller argues that his possession of a firearm before the altercation that led to Witherspoon’s death might have been an event in violation of the law; however, he asserts, based on the testimony of Fuller and Smoot, his possession of a firearm was justified, and thus was not an ‘unlawful activity,’ at the moment it became necessary for his self-defense. Therefore, Fuller argues that, in addition to the instruction on self-defense under 13A-3-23(a), Ala.Code 1975, he was entitled to an instruction under § 13A-3-23(b), Ala. Code 1975, informing the jury that, if he was justified under subsection (a) in using physical force, he had no duty to retreat. “There is language in Diggs that seems to support Fuller’s argument. However, the language in Diggs concerning the defendant’s duty to retreat was unnecessary and, thus, was merely dicta. Unlike the present situation, in Diggs the trial court erroneously refused to give any instruction to the jury concerning the defendant’s right to defend himself under § 13A-3-23(a), Ala.Code 1975. That error alone warranted reversal of the trial court’s judgment. It was unnecessary for this Court to analyze the separate issue concerning the limited right of a person to ‘stand his or her ground’ if that person is ‘justified under subsection (a) in using physical force,’ see § 13A-3-23(b), Ala.Code 1975.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Wallace v. State