State v. Cope’s Empirical Analysis
1954
Citation profile
84 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 84 later decisions — most recently April 2012 · most notably State v. Smith (1977), State v. Whittemore (1961)
84 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Forte v. United States · Parker v. State · 41 Cal. 2d 371 - People v. Rupp · People v. Jones · Campbell v. Commonwealth
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 84 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Ordinarily, testimony given by a witness in a . . . former trial, will not be admitted as substantive evidence in a trial unless it is impossible to produce the witness. The witness himself, if available, must be produced and testify de novo. (Citations omitted.)”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“Where A makes a confession, and relates circumstances which are proven to have actually existed as related in the confession, that may be evidence sufficient for a jury to proceed upon to convict the prisoner; but a naked confession, unattended with circumstances, is not sufficient. A confession, from the very nature of the thing, is a very doubtful species of evidence, and to be received with great caution. It is hardly to be supposed that a man perfectly possessed of himself would make a confession to take away his own life. It must generally proceed from a promise or hope of favor, or from a dread of punishment, and in such situations the mind is agitated — the man may be easily tempted to go further than the truth. Besides, the witness, respecting the confession, may have mistaken his meaning. How easy is it to understand the speaking differently from what he meant; and the smallest mistake in this particular might prove fatal. As there are no confirmatory circumstances in the present case, it is better to acquit the prisoner.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.