171 Md. App. 642 - Head v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 10 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Under Md. Rule 5-804(b)(2), if the declarant is unavailable as a witness in a homicide prosecution, the rule against hearsay does not exclude a “statement made by a declarant, while believing that the declarant’s death was imminent, concerning the cause or circumstances of what the declarant believed to be his or her impending death.” The statement may be made in response to a question, but must reflect the victim’s personal knowledge. Statements identifying the person who shot the victim fall within this rule. The admissibility of a dying declaration depends on whether, at the time the victim made the statement, he or she believed that death was impending. “The required abandonment of all hope of recovery may be proved by the declarant’s statement or by others’ statements to the declarant, or it may be inferred from the eircumstances[,]” including “the fatal quality of the wound.” It is not “necessary for the victim to state that she expected to die. It is sufficient if her condition is such (and she is aware of it) as to warrant an inference of impending death.” For example, a shooting victim’s request for a priest or for someone to take care of her child may indicate the victim’s belief in her impending death. Alternatively, a statement by another person to the victim, or in the victim’s presence, might establish that the victim heard something that caused her to believe that she was likely to die soon.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 217 Md. App. 212 - State v. Hailes

2. “The officer needed to know, for safety reasons, who shot Darby. By way of example, if Darby had said that he had been shot by [the man lying on the couch], this information would allow the officer to take precautions to protect himself and Darby. The same would be true if Darby had given no name in response to the question but instead identified the shooter by disclosing his whereabouts (e.g., “the man who shot me is in the basement”).”

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

3. “The dying declarations exception was once limited to homicide prosecutions. Md. Rule 5—804(b)(2) extends this exception to “attempted homicide, or assault with intent to commit a homicide or in any civil action.” To be admissible, the declarations must relate to the immediate cause of death or injury, and must be made at a time when the declarant believed that death was near and certain.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 217 Md. App. 212 - State v. Hailes