State v. Benton’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 217 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 227 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[a]n accessory before the fact is one who was absent from the scene when the crime was committed but who procured, counseled, commanded or encouraged the principal to commit it.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. United States v. Dinkins · 16 N.C. App. 527 - State v. Wiggins

2. ““Unsoundness of mind does not per se render a witness incompetent, the general rule being that a lunatic or weak-minded person is admissible as a witness if he has sufficient understanding to apprehend the obligation of an oath and is capable of giving a correct account of the matters which he has seen or heard with respect to the questions at issue. The decision as to the competency of such a person to testify rests largely within the discretion of the trial court.””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. DeLeonardo · 60 N.C. App. 1 - State v. Overton

3. “It is always presumed that the legislature acted with care and deliberation and with full knowledge of prior and existing law.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Coffey · 170 N.C. App. 501 - Myers v. McGrady