204 N.C. App. 591 - State v. DARK’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The state is privileged to withhold from a defendant the identity of a confidential informant, with certain exceptions. Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53 , 1 L.Ed. 2d 639 (1957), sets forth the applicable test when disclosure is requested. The trial court must balance the government’s need to protect an informant’s identity (to promote disclosure of crimes) with the defendant’s right to present his case. However, before the courts should even begin the balancing of competing interests which Roviaro envisions, a defendant who requests that the identity of a confidential informant be revealed must make a sufficient showing that the particular circumstances of his case mandate such disclosure. Two factors weighing in favor of disclosure are (1) the informer was an actual participant in the crime compared to a mere informant, and (2) the state’s evidence and defendant’s evidence contradict on material facts that the informant could clarify. Factors which weigh against disclosure include whether the defendant admits culpability, offers no defense on the merits, or the evidence independent of the informer’s testimony establishes the accused’s guilt.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 222 N.C. App. 147 - State v. Avent