State v. Shipley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

28 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““No evidence had been offered on the character of the defendant. The prosecuting attorney told the jury in effect that the defendant had not brought his neighbors in to testify as to his good character because he knew they would not do so, and it was tantamount to asserting that defendant was a man of bad character. The apology made in the record is that defendant said he was of good character, and no witness bad testified against bis character. "We do not tbink tbis palliates tbe breecb of tbe prosecuting attorney. If there was no evidence on character (and there was none) be should have objected to tbe statement, and requested that the defendant's counsel be required to keep within tbe evidence. But instead of so doing, be made no objection at tbe time, and then sought in tbe closing argument to offset it by tbe unsupported statement that defendant was a man of bad character and knew it, and did not dare to produce bis neighbors. It is a cardinal rule of criminal procedure that until a defendant has put his character in evidence the State is not permitted to attack it.””

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