Moore v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We understand the State's position to be that, by definition, an excited utterance is not made under circumstances conducive to subjective contemplation of future legal proceedings. We cannot agree. Moreover, even if we were to assume the State is correct in such premise, we nevertheless conclude, based on Crawford itself, that subjective contemplation is irrelevant to an analysis of whether such out-of-court statements would be testimonial or non-testimonial. First, the test set out in Crawford is objective, not subjective. Second, even if the test were subjective, the declarant's perception could be determined only through cross-examination. Crawford identifies as testimonial "statements that were made under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe that the statement would be available for use at a later trial.” And, in criticizing the application of the Roberts reliability test, the Court stated, the Framers would be astounded to learn that ex parte testimony could be admitted against a criminal defendant because it was elicited by "neutral” government officers. But even if the court’s assessment of the officer’s motives was accurate, it says nothing about Sylvia's perception of her situation. Only cross-examination could reveal that. Thus, even if the test were subjective, under Crawford , only cross-examination could reveal the complainant’s subjective perception of her situation.”

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

2. “the fact that a statement is an excited utterance is a factor that can be considered when determining whether the statement is testimonial. However, we note that Texas courts have held that a declarant's state of excitement can last long after the initial crime and that excited utterances can be made both spontaneously and in response to questioning.... It is not unreasonable to imagine a situation in which officers secure a scene and then begin formal, structured questioning of witnesses (or the victim) who are still under the stress of the situation. We are not convinced that responses to questions under such circumstances would be nontestimonial. Each situation should be analyzed individually.... Accordingly, we decline to join those courts that have established a bright-line rule that excited utterances can never be testimonial.”

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