Moorehead v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

50 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 50 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““So far as we can find, it has always been the rule in this State that a trial judge will not be put in error for denying a continuance unless it is shown that he has abused his discretion in doing so, because the granting or denying of a continuance is a matter which addressed itself to the sound discretion of the trial judge. Bass v. State, 191 Tenn. 259 , 231 S.W.2d 707 , and many others. This Court has held though that it will not disturb the exercise of this discretion by the trial judge unless something is developed in the after trial to show that the defendant might have been prejudiced in some way by the refusal to grant a continuance. State v. Rigsby, 74 Tenn. 554 . In this case, that is the Rigsby case, the Court delivered an opinion, which was handed down eighty odd years ago, and made this very apt statement, which is worthy of quotation when the Court said: “ * * But, in the nature of things, much must be left to the discretion of a circuit judge, who is presumed to have, and who has in fact so large an experience upon the subject of criminal trials, who knows the shifts, and devices, and false pretenses to which defendants resort in the hope of escape from justice, and that to disturb the exercise of his discretion, there should be something developed in the after trial to show that the defendant might have been prejudiced in some way by the refusal to grant a continuance.’ ””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Oden v. State · 1 Tenn. Crim. App. 427 - State Ex Rel. Carroll v. Henderson