Norrell v. Norrell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Testimony of the appellee as to ‘any matter’ which occurred prior to the death of the decedent is excluded under this statute. This includes transactions or actions as well as conversations. “One of the objects of these statutes is to prevent a person from testifying against an estate as to acts or conversations of the decedent when his lips are sealed by death. It is, in fact, a statute for the prevention of fraud. “To say that ‘the litigation herein is not for the purpose of obtaining a judgment or allowance for or against the estate of the decedent’ is not true. It is the very purpose of the appellee, as widow in this proceeding, to gain a widow’s share in the estate. What she would gain would even have priority over the claims of creditors who are likewise incompetent to testify under the same statute. It does affect the amount to be distributed by the estate.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 146 Ind. App. 341 - Azimow v. AZIMOW