State v. Bescher’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Here, the overwhelming weight of the evidence admitted at trial undermines Defendant’s theory that the shooting was accidental. About a month before the shooting, Defendant told [employee] he was going to kill White for “snitching” on him. About five days before the shooting, Defendant purchased a stolen, and therefore untraceable, gun. Disinterested witnesses saw White approach [Mov-ant’s] car and have a conversation, with no argument occurring. When Defendant shot White, White was turning away. Defendant admitted at trial that he was angry with White and wanted to have a confrontation with him. Defendant shot White in the head from a distance of less than eighteen inches, which instantly severed White’s spine, dropping him to the ground, where he started bleeding profusely. Defendant paused for a minute, then fled with squealing tires to the home of friends, who helped him get rid of the evidence against him. Defendant threatened to kill [employee] and her children if she ever became a witness against him. He cursed at the police when they asked him to come in for questioning, checked into a hotel room under someone else’s name, tried to flee the state, and was finally tracked down and arrested. Ballistics testing conclusively proved that Defendant’s gun fired the shot that killed White.”

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

2. “[Statements made during closing argument rarely constitute plain error. Without an objection by counsel, a trial court’s options are narrowed to uninvited interference with summation, which may itself constitute error. For the Defendant to carry his burden of showing plain error he must prove that the prosecutor’s statement had a decisive effect on the jury’s verdict. The prosecutor’s statement is decisive when there is a reasonable probability that the verdict would have been different had the error not been committed.”

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