Knox v. Fair’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““When there is no evidence tending to prove a particular fact, the court may so instruct the jury, whether the evidence be oral or written. . . . But I know of no case that holds it to be erroneous, should the judge decline so to charge, when the testimony is all given orally from the stand, and the facts deposed to, numerous and minute. Indeed such a practice would lead to the necessity of taking down all the evidence in writing, that the court might clearly see whether there was any proof tending to prove the particular fact. It is certainly the duty of the prescribing judge to pay particular attention to every part of the testimony, that he may be enabled correctly to instruct the jury on the questions of law involved, but when many witnesses are examined, and the facts detailed by them numerous, we would not hold that the court erred, should he charge the jury hypothetically, and refuse to charge that there Was no testimony tending to prove a particular fact.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Eggleston v. City of Seattle