State v. Johnson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 federal appellate · 76 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 87 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"The word `possession' means simply the owning or having in one's power; to have and to hold as property; ownership, whether rightfully or wrongfully; actual personal control and care; the right of exercising acts of dominion. [citation omitted] "Unlawful possession, where one is invested with some right of dominion, can be defined as a possession which in the ordinary course of human experience necessarily involves knowledge of the fact that one is possessing either right-fully or unlawfully as well as knowledge of the criminal consequences which one should reasonably anticipate to result therefrom. For, no crime can exist without the combination of a criminal act and a criminal intent, or an evil motive, or with a guilty knowledge of its consequences. State v. Howard, 162 La. 719 , 111 So. 72 . "Therefore, guilty knowledge is an essential ingredient of the crime of possession of narcotic drugs. The crime of unlawful possession of narcotic drugs as denounced by law cannot exist without proof of guilty knowledge; for, such possession would not be a possession contemplated by the statute."”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Malmay · State v. Clack

2. ““Possession without knowledge of such possession is not possession in the legal sense of that word. See 33 Words and Phrases, Possession, pp. 73, 88. Knowledge -is therefore an essential ingredient of the crime of possession of narcotics, and consequently the ruling of the trial judge was correct under Article 446 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which reads: “ ‘When knowledge or intent forms an essential part of the inquiry, testimony may be offered of such acts, conduct or declarations of the accused as tend to establish such knowledge or intent and where the offense is one of a system, evidence is admissible to prove the continuity of the offense, and the commission of similar offenses for the purpose of showing guilty knowledge and intent, but not to prove the offense charged.’ ””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 301 So. 2d 344 - State v. Gaspard · State v. Giddings

3. “In order to show intent, evidence is admissible of similar acts, independent of the act charged as a crime in the indictment, for though intent is a question of fact, it need not be proven as a fact, it may be inferred from the circumstances of the transaction.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 301 So. 2d 344 - State v. Gaspard