Wooley v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 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 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Accordingly, legal sufficiency is not concerned with the actual charge given but rather with a hypothetically correct charge focusing on the elements of the offense. Factual sufficiency, on the other hand, is directly tied to the charge given. Where, as here, the jury was asked a specific factual question, i.e., whether appellant was a party to an offense committed by a specific primary actor, the only way to assess whether the verdict was supported by evidence is to-consider the charge actually given. By inserting a hypothetically correct charge into its factual sufficiency analysis, the majority reviews a question that was never posed to the jury, i.e., whether appellant was a party to an offense committed by "another person" {i.e., not necessarily [Velez]).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Wooley v. State

2. “The jury charge should have allowed a conviction as a party if the jury found that "[Velez] or another person" caused the death of the complainant, and appellant, with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, if any, solicited, encouraged, directed, aided or attempted to aid "[Velez] or another person " to commit the offense. Such an instruction would have relieved the State of the burden of proving that it was either Velez or appellant whose bullet killed the complainant, and would have allowed the juiy to find that anyone involved in the shooting, including unnamed individuals, caused the death.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Wooley v. State

3. “caused the death of the complainant, and appellant, with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense, if any, solicited, encouraged, directed, aided or attempted to aid”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Wooley v. State