2 N.C. App. 460 - State v. McLean’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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. ““If the jury believed the testimony in the case under review, ... it was its duty to convict the defendants of robbery with firearms because all of the evidence tended to show that such offense was committed upon the prosecuting witness, ... as .alleged in the indictment. There was no testimony tending to establish the commission of an included or lesser crime. The evidence necessarily restricted the jury to the return of one of two verdicts . . . namely, a verdict of guilty of robbery with firearms ... or a verdict of not guilty. It follows that the court did not err in failing to instruct the jury that they might acquit the defendants of the crime of robbery with firearms charged in the indictment in question and convict them of a. lesser offense.” State v. Bell, 228 N.C. 659 , 46 S.E. 2d 834 ; as quoted in State v. McLean, supra.”

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

2. ““The necessity for instructing the jury as to an included crime of lesser degree than that charged arises when and only when there is evidence from which the jury could find that such included crime of lesser degree was committed. The presence of such evidence is the determinative factor. Hence, there is no such necessity if the State’s evidence tends to show a completed robbery and there is no conflicting evidence relating to elements of the crime charged. Mere contention that the jury might aocept the State’s evidence in part and might reject it in part will not suffice.” State v. Hicks, 241 N.C. 156 , 84 S.E. 2d 545 .”

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

3. ““G.S. 15-170 permits the conviction of a defendant of the crime charged in the bill of indictment ‘or of a less degree of the same crime.’ This statute, however, does not make mandatory the submission to the jury of a lesser included offense where the indictment does not charge such offense and where there is no evidence of such offense. * * * It not only is unnecessary, but it is undesirable for a trial judge to give instructions on abstract possibilities unsupported by evidence.””

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