People v. Stevenson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In my view, the common law principle of not recognizing fractions of days in computing time is as much a fiction as the rule that a person is deemed to attain a given age on the day preceding the anniversary of his birth [citations omitted]. New York courts indeed have, in the appropriate case, considered fractions of a day in computing time. ‘The law does not regard fractions of a day, except in cases where the hour itself is material, as is the case where priority of judgments is in question [citations omitted].’ [Citations omitted.] ‘As a general rule the court does not inquire into the fractions of a day, except for the purpose of guarding against injustice.’ [Citations omitted.] “In the instant case, the precise hour of defendant’s birth is material because it is at that time, on his anniversary, that he turned 16. Injustice would be done if he is forced to face the criminal justice system rather than the juvenile delinquent justice system before he was truly an adult under the statute. ‘[Cjriminal statutes must be “strictly construed against the party seeking their enforcement and in favor of the person being proceeded against.” ’ [Citations omitted.] Under the circumstances, defendant should be given the benefit of the fractional hour of his birth in relationship to the time the crime was committed, and the writ should be granted because at that time the criminal court lacked jurisdiction over him.” 116 App. Div. 2d at 1033-34 (Doerr, J., dissenting).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 24 Kan. App. 2d 558 - State v. Wright