State v. Herzig’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Under N.D.R.Crim.P. 29(a), the district court is authorized, upon the defendant’s motion, to ‘enter a judgment of acquittal of any offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.’ ” State v. Blunt, 2010 ND 144, ¶ 12 , 785 N.W.2d 909 (quoting N.D.R.Crim.P. 29(a)). To grant a motion for judgment of acquittal under N.D.R.Crim.P. 29, “‘a trial court must find the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction of the offenses charged.’” Id. (quoting State v. Maki, 2009 ND 128, ¶ 7 , 767 N.W.2d 852 ). “When considering a motion for judgment of acquittal, ‘the trial court, upon reviewing the evidence most favorable to the prosecution, must deny the motion if there is substantial evidence upon which a reasonable mind could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” Id. (quoting State v. Hammeren, 2003 ND 6, ¶ 6 , 655 N.W.2d 707 ). To successfully challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, “the defendant must show the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, permits no reasonable inference of guilt.” State v. Gonzalez, 2000 ND 32, ¶ 14 , 606 N.W.2d 873 .”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Romero · State v. Bear

2. “When the sufficiency of evidence to support a criminal conviction is challenged, this Court merely reviews the record to determine if there is competent evidence allowing the [trier of fact] to draw an inference reasonably tending to prove guilt and fairly warranting a conviction. The defendant bears the burden of showing the evidence reveals no reasonable inference of guilt when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict. When considering insufficiency of the evidence, we will not reweigh conflicting evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses .... A [trier of fact] may find a defendant guilty even though evidence exists which, if believed, could lead to a verdict of not guilty.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Romero