State v. Sossamon’s Empirical Analysis
1963
Citation profile
3 federal appellate · 33 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 36 later decisions — most recently February 2018 · most notably State v. Sparrow (1970), United States v. Hooker (1988)
3 federal appellate · 33 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on State v. Greer · State v. Eason · State v. Thornton · State v. Nugent · State v. . Thomas
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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Any person whose operator’s or chauffeur’s license has been suspended or revoked other than permanently . . . who shall drive any motor vehicle upon the highways of the State while such license is suspended or revoked shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. . . .””
2 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. State v. Blacknell · State v. Cook““A warrant or indictment following substantially the language of the statute is sufficient if and when it thereby charges the essentials of the offense ‘in a plain, intelligible, and explicit manner.’ G.S. 15-153; S. v. Eason, 242 N.C. 59 , 86 S.E. 2d 774 . If the statutory words fail to do this they ‘must be supplemented, by other allegations which so plainly, intelligibly and explicitly set forth every essential element of the offense as to leave no doubt in the mind of the accused and'the court as to the offense intended to be charged.’ S. v. Cox, supra, and cases cited. “The reference in the amended warrant to G.S. 20-28 discloses an intent to charge a violation of the offense defined therein. However, ‘(m)erely chargiiig in general terms a breach of the statute and referring to it in the indictment is not sufficient.’ S. v. Ballangee, 191 N.C. 700, 702 , 132 S.E. 795 , and cases cited.””
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. State v. Cook“". . . that defendant on March 26, 1961, in No. 4 Township, Cabarrus County, ‘did unlawfully, willfully;-operate a motor vehicle upon the public highways of North Carolina after his license had been revoked or suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles in violation of 20-28 of the Motor Vehicles Laws of North Carolina, this being the defendant’s second offense of the aforesaid crime, the same offender, D. H. Sossamon, Jr., having been convicted theretofore on or about the 29th day, of February 1960, in the Cabarrus County Recorders Court of the offense of driving .after his license was suspended,’ . . .””
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. State v. Cook
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.