State v. Abbott’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Viewed realistically, a refusal to testify by an already convicted accomplice cannot stem from his desire to protect himself and must, therefore, stem from his desire to protect the defendant. The defendant cannot complain if the jury chooses to draw the logical inference that a truthful answer would have implicated defendant. This being the logical inference, we see no reason for not permitting the prosecutor to present the matter to the jury through the device of calling a convicted accomplice who the prosecutor knows will make the inference possible by the witness remaining silent.”

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