State v. Scheler’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"But counsel for the accused urges still another objection. It is that the indictment in this case did not charge that the accused `criminally, negligently killed', it simply charged that he `negligently killed' the victim. Hence, he continues, a serious handicap to a proper defense is thereby presented, for when a jury is informed that the accused `negligently' killed someone, it becomes most difficult to explain the meaning of criminal negligence. That alleged difficulty is provided a vehicle by which it can be clarified and which is embodied in the definition which the law supplies for criminal negligence. That definition, contained in Article 12 of the Louisiana Criminal Code, LSA-R.S. 14:12 is as follows: "`Criminal negligence exists when, although neither specific nor general criminal intent is present, there is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender's conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances.' "This definition is available for instructions to the jury, and is to be read in connection with Article 32 of the Louisiana Criminal Code, LSA-R.S. 14:32, which defines the crime, and makes criminal negligence an essential element thereof. It is difficult to perceive that a handicap to the defense exists under these circumstances. Nevertheless both the Ward case and Heiman case already referred to, have decided adversely to this contention, and those cases ar”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 277 So. 2d 146 - State v. Guillot