State v. Lucas’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 49 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 51 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Clearly, abuse of a child as defined by K.S.A. 1987 Supp. 21-3609 is a felony inherently dangerous to human fife and no contrary assertion is made herein. Rather, tire issue herein is whether the underlying or collateral felony is so distinct from the homicide as not to be an ingredient of the homicide. If the underlying felony does not meet this test it is said to merge with the homicide and preclude the application of felony murder. Thus, a crime such as second-degree murder may not serve as the underlying felony supporting first-degree felony murder because second-degree murder is one of the lesser included offenses of first-degree murder. Otherwise, all degrees of homicide would constitute murder in the first degree, regardless of the defendant’s intention or premeditation. First-degree premeditated murder (or any lesser degree of homicide) could, of course, constitute the requisite underlying felony where, for instance, a defendant kills victim B during his or her commission of a homicide on victim A. The homicide of victim A could be the -underlying felony for a felony-murder charge for the death of victim B.” Lucas, 243 Kan. at 466 .”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Jones · State v. Leonard

2. ““It is the contention of the state that if murder is committed in the perpetration or the attempt to perpetrate any other felony, it is murder in the first degree; hence, that if the boy, John Michael Foley, met his death at the hands of defendant, while defendant was committing an assault with a deadly weapon, under such circumstances that it amounted to a felony under any statute pertaining thereto, the offense is murder in the first degree. This contention cannot be sustained. The effect of it would be to make any homicide, not excusable or justifiable, which by our statute is defined to be manslaughter in any of the degrees, or murder in the second degree, to constitute murder in the first degree. In other words, there could, under this interpretation of the statute, be no such thing as any lower degree of homicide than murder in the first degree. In 29 C.J. 1107, it is said: “ ‘Under a statute making the unintentional killing of another while engaged in the commission of a felony murder in the first degree, the other elements constituting the felony must be so distinct from that of the homicide as not to be an ingredient of the homicide indictable therewith or convictable thereunder.” (See, also, cases there cited.)’ “. . . Here the act of the defendant in doing the shooting is either murder in the first degree or some other offense. That same act cannot be made the basis, first, of some other felony, as manslaughter, and then that felony used as an element of murder in ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Prouse

3. ““A literal reading of this statute would find any felony to be sufficient to support a charge of felony murder if a causal relation exists. The purpose of the statute is to deter those engaged in felonies from killing negligently or accidentally, and that doctrine should not be extended beyond its rational function which it was designed to serve.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Mitchell