Lester v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

50 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 50 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"A plea of self-defense in a criminal case is not an affirmative defense of confession and avoidance on which the defendant has the burden of proof as he does on such a plea in a civil case. Because he who asserts must prove, the party who takes the affirmative of an issue has the burden of proof. On trial of an issue of fact, if the evidence is evenly balanced, the party on whom the burden of proof rests must lose...."”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Vaughn v. State · 485 So. 2d 777 - Wilhite v. State

2. ““The defendant’s burden in this behalf has often been loosely referred to as the burden of proving self-defense, and sometimes as the burden of reasonably satisfying the jury of the existence of the two elements above referred to. But the actual burden is not a burden of proof, in the ordinary sense of the phrase, to establish an issue to the reasonable satisfaction of the jury, but a burden merely of offering enough evidence tending to show these two elements to generate, in connection with all the other evidence, a reasonable doubt of defendant’s guilt of the unlawful killing charged. Henson v. State, 112 Ala. 41 , 21 So. 79 ; McGhee v. State, 178 Ala. 4, 11 , 59 So. 573 ; Roberson v. State, 183 Ala. 43, 58 , 62 So. 837 ; Ragsdale v. State, 134 Ala. 24, 35, 36 , 32 So. 674 ; Baker v. State, 19 Ala.App. 432 , 98 So. 213 , affirmed 210 Ala. 374 , 98 So. 215 ; Perry v. State, 211 Ala. 458 , 100 So. 842 .””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Key v. State · Payne v. State

3. ““ * * * The burden of proof is on the defendant to show you by competent evidence that there was present impending danger, real or apparent, to his life or limb, or of grievous bodily harm, from which there was no reasonable means of escape, unless the evidence which proves the homicide proves also the excuse or justification. The burden of proof is also on the defendant to establish by competent evidence that he could not retreat, as the court has defined the same to you.” ’ ””

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