218 W. Va. 180 - State v. Singleton’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Ultimately, this issue boils down to whether or not the incriminating statement `was freely and voluntarily made, without ... some promise or benefit held out to the accused.'”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 220 W. Va. 89 - State v. Middleton · 222 W. Va. 139 - State v. KEESECKER

2. “This Court is constitutionally obligated to give plenary, independent, and de novo review to the ultimate question of whether a particular confession is voluntary and whether the lower court applied the correct legal standard in making the determination. The holdings of prior West Virginia cases suggesting deference in this area continue, but that deference is limited to factual findings as opposed to legal conclusions.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. People v. Humphrey

3. “[R]epresentations or promises made to a defendant by one in authority do not necessarily invalidate a subsequent confession. In determining voluntariness of a confession, the trial court must assess the totality of all the surrounding circumstances. No one factor is determinative.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 222 W. Va. 139 - State v. KEESECKER