State v. Cruz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

38 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 40 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “As a general rule, claims not raised before the trial court may not be raised on appeal.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. McDaniel · Neese v. Utah Bd. of Pardons & Parole

2. “Erroneous reasonable doubt instructions ... give rise to structural errors, which are different than garden-variety trial errors. Structural errors are flaws in the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than simply an error in the trial process it self.... [A] structural error analysis presumes prejudice.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Ellis · State v. Finlayson

3. “[S]o 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.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Austin · 2006 UT App 142 - State v. Halls