State v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

52 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 54 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Certainly the able and conscientious judge who tried this case below did not intend to do anything to prejudice the rights of the defendant, but it is the probable effect or influence upon the jury as a result of what a judge does, and not his motive, that determines whether the right of defendant to a fair trial has been impaired to such an extent as to entitle him to a new trial.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Peters · State v. Maready

2. ““ . . . The judge should be the embodiment of even and exact justice. He should at all times be on the alert, lest, in an unguarded moment, something be incautiously said or done to shake the wavering balance which, as a minister of justice, he is supposed, figuratively speaking, to hold in his hands. Every suitor is entitled by the law to have his cause considered with the ‘cold neutrality of the impartial judge,’ and the equally unbiased mind of a properly instructed jury. This right can neither be denied nor abridged.” (Emphasis added.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Carriker