21 Tenn. App. 478 - Nichols v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““ ‘The admissions and confessions of parties are always evidence against them; and all they said at the same time is always evidence for them; but not what they said at any other time.’ History of a Lawsuit, 4 Ed., (Martin), page 279. “In this connection, plaintiff cites 22 C.J. pages 412, 413, section 495, where it is said: ‘The party offering a written admission is not bound by all the state ments in the writing, hut may take advantage of such as are in his favor and contradict the rest’. “But the rule thus stated does not mean that such statements in a written admission as are favorable to the party against whom the admission is proved may be ignored. It is said in Jones on Evidence, 2nd Ed., Yol. 3, page 1957, that ‘Every admission upon which a party relies is to be taken as an entirety of the fact which makes for his side, with the qualifications which limit, modify, or destroy its effect on the other side. This is now a settled principle which has passed, by its universality, into a maxim of the law’; and in the same volume, at page 1962, it is said: ‘A court or jury is not bound to give equal credit to all parts of a statement or admission; they may believe a part and disregard the rest. The rule only requires that what is in favor of the party making the admission should be fairly and liberally considered and weighed with the other evidence. Of course, the one offering admissions of this character is not bound by the statements which are favorable to the declarant. He”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Puckett v. Laster