194 W. Va. 716 - State v. Hottinger’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A criminal defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction takes on a heavy burden. An appellate court must review all of the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, in the light most favorable to the prosecution and must credit all inferences and credibility assessments that the jury might have drawn in favor of the prosecution. The evidence need not be inconsistent with every conclusion save that of guilt so long as the jury can find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Credibility determinations are for a jury and not an appellate court. Finally, a jury verdict should be set aside only when the record contains no evidence, regardless of how it is weighed, from which the jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To the extent that our prior cases are inconsistent, they are expressly overruled.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 195 W. Va. 656 - State v. Miller

2. “(a) A person is guilty of sexual assault in the third degree when: (1) Such person engages in sexual intercourse or sexual intrusion with another person who is mentally defective or mentally incapacitated; or (2) Such person, being sixteen years old or more, engages in sexual intercourse or sexual intrusion with another person who is less than sixteen years old and who is at least four years younger than the defendant. (b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than five years, or fined not more than ten thousand dollars and imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than five years.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 195 W. Va. 656 - State v. Miller

3. ““ ‘The prosecuting attorney occupies a quasi-judicial position in the trial of a criminal case. In keeping with his position, he is required to avoid the role of a partisan, eager to convict, and must deal fairly with the accused as well as the other participants in the trial. It is the prosecutor’s duty to set a tone of fairness and impartiality, and while he may and should vigorously pursue the State’s case, in so doing he must not abandon the quasi-judicial role with which he is cloaked under the law.’ Syl. pt. 3, State v. Boyd, 160 W.Va. 234 , 233 S.E.2d 710 (1977).” State v. Critzer, 167 W.Va. 665 , 280 S.E.2d 288 (1981).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 198 W. Va. 530 - State v. Wyatt