State v. Couture’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

54 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 54 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Our case law is clear that the guilt of a defendant in a criminal case may be proved by circumstantial evidence alone, if the evidence is proper and sufficient in itself. The sufficiency of circumstantial evidence to support a conviction is measured against the same standard as all other evidence: it will sustain a conviction if sufficient to convince a reasonable trier of fact that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In addition, the State is not required to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence in proving a case with circumstantial evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Godfrey

2. “[A] judgment of acquittal is proper only if the prosecution has failed to put forth any evidence to substantiate a jury verdict.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Melissa Robitille

3. “We have long recognized that judging the credibility of witness testimony is a duty left to the jury.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Francis L. Lampman