2004 UT App 8 - State v. Reyes’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(a) After the jury is sworn and before opening statements, the court may instruct the jury concerning the jurors’ duties and conduct, the order of proceedings, the elements and burden of proof for the alleged crime, and the definition of terms. The court may instruct the jury concerning any matter stipulated to by the parties and agreed to by the court and any matter the court in its discretion believes will assist the jurors in comprehending the case. Preliminary instructions shall be in writing and a copy provided to each juror. At the final pretrial conference or at such other time as the court directs, a party may file a written request that the court instruct the jury on the law as set forth in the request. The court shall inform the parties of its action upon a requested instruction prior to instructing the jury, and it shall furnish the parties with a copy of its proposed instructions, unless the parties waive this requirement. (b) During the course of the trial, the court may instruct the jury on the law if the instruction will assist the jurors in comprehending the case. Prior to giving the written instruction, the court shall advise the parties of its intent to do so and of the content of the instruction. A party may request an interim written instruction.”

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

2. “The beyond a reasonable doubt standard is a requirement of due process, but the Constitution neither 'prohibits trial courts from defining reasonable doubt nor requires them to do so as a matter of course. Indeed, so long as the court instructs the jury on the necessity that the defendant’s guilt be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, ... the Constitution does not require that any particular form of words be used in advising the jury of the government’s burden of proof. Rather, taken as a whole, the instructions [must] correctly convey the concept of reasonable doubt to the jury-”

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

3. “First, “the instruction should specifically state that the State’s proof must obviate all reasonable doubt.” Second, the instruction should not state that a reasonable doubt is one which “would govern or control a person in the more weighty affairs of life,” as such an instruction tends to trivialize the decision of whether to convict. Third, “it is inappropriate to instruct that a reasonable doubt is not merely a possibility,” although it is permissible to instruct that a “fanciful or wholly speculative possibility ought not to defeat proof beyond a reasonable doubt.””

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