Brown v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““(1) As well-known, confessions of guilt under the law of Alabama are deemed involuntary, and are inadmissible without first laying a predicate showing they were made in the absence of an inducement of hope or fear. “(2) In some states where this rule prevails it is held the defendant, on becoming a witness for himself, cannot be impeached by cross-examination touching a confession out of court unless it first be shown the confession was voluntary. See Annotation, 9 A.L.R. 1358 . But in Alabama and other states, it has long been declared that when the defendant becomes a witness in his own behalf, he submits himself to cross-examination as any other witness; and he may be cross-examined touching his statements out of court in conflict with his testimony, without a showing that such statements were voluntary and were, therefore, inadmissible as a confession.””

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