183 Conn. App. 82 - State v. Gerald A.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

21 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 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “As a general rule, evidence of prior misconduct is inadmissible to prove that a defendant is guilty of the crime of which he is accused.... Nor can such evidence be used to suggest that the defendant has a bad character or a propensity for criminal behavior.... [S]ee also Conn. Code Evid. § 4-5 (a). In order to determine whether such evidence is admissible, we use a two part test. First, the evidence must be relevant and material to at least one of the circumstances encompassed by the exceptions. Second, the probative value of [the prior misconduct] evidence must outweigh [its] prejudicial effect .... The primary responsibility for making these determinations rests with the trial court. We will make every reasonable presumption in favor of upholding the trial court's ruling, and only upset it for a manifest abuse of discretion.... "Under the first prong of the test, the evidence must be relevant for a purpose other than showing the defendant's bad character or criminal tendencies.... Recognized exceptions to this rule have permitted the introduction of prior misconduct evidence to prove intent, identity, malice, motive, common plan or scheme, absence of mistake or accident, knowledge, a system of criminal activity, or an element of the crime, or to corroborate crucial prosecution testimony. Conn. Code Evid. § 4-5 [c].”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 187 Conn. App. 661 - State v. Berrios

2. “There are situations where the potential prejudicial effect of relevant evidence would suggest its exclusion. These are: (1) where the facts offered may unduly arouse the jury's emotions, hostility or sympathy, (2) where the proof and answering evidence it provokes may create a side issue that will unduly distract the jury from the main issues, (3) where the evidence offered and the counterproof will consume an undue amount of time, and (4) where the defendant, having no reasonable ground to anticipate the evidence, is unfairly surprised and unprepared to meet it.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 187 Conn. App. 661 - State v. Berrios

3. “jury was free to infer, on the basis of this record and its common sense, that if [the victim] flinched and clenched because [i]t hurt when the defendant tried to put his finger inside of her vagina, that the defendant digitally penetrated, at the very least, [the victim's] labia majora.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 187 Conn. App. 725 - State v. Bumgarner-Ramos