Fleming v. Collins’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It is not sufficient to say that the defendant cannot complain because he was not injured. He was injured by being deprived of the right of a litigant to have the jury determine his; liability under the law as laid down by the-court. That liability might be for more-than the jury found; yet it might be for nothing. What his liability is, the jury-refused to say; but said something else,, which, under the law and on the facts, was; simply untrue.” We think a different principle applies to this case. The law recognizes; that if a jury goes beyond the judge’s instructions, as distinguished from a failure to decide the issues submitted to it, that fact alone will not necessarily render the verdict invalid or prevent the court from entering a valid judgment thereon. The court may disregard, as surplusage, that which is outside the issues submitted to them and enter that part oí the verdict which conforms to the instructions, provided it is not otherwise improper. “If a verdict, in addition to answering the issues involved,, «contains immaterial findings or findings on .’matters not in issue, such portions of the verdict should be disregarded * * *.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Courembis v. Weinstein