State v. Foster’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

26 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Under the majority’s view the burden on the prosecutor to correctly charge the defendant with the proper crimes and to prove those charges has been shifted to the court. In essence, the prosecutor would not be required to charge the defendant with a crime capable of proof, but so long as some evidence of a lesser charge was presented, the court would be allowed to decide whether a lesser-included offense should be submitted to a jury or to consider itself as a factfinder. In my view the court becomes an active participant in the process instead of a disinterested presiding judge. I submit that this active participation offends notions of fairness and due process.” 3 Foster, 230 Neb. at 612, 433 N.W.2d at 170 (White, J., dissenting).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 188 Ill. 2d 265 - People v. Garcia

2. “where the State fails to demonstrate a prima facie case on the crime charged, but does so on a lessor included offense, the trial court in its discretion may direct a verdict on the crime charged and submit the evidence to the trier of fact for consideration on the lesser-included offense.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Shaw