28 Md. App. 127 - Todd v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1975
Citation profile
19 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 19 later decisions — most recently October 2008
19 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 Simmons v. United States · 6 Md. App. 59 - Smith v. State · Cook v. State · State v. Tull · 21 Md. App. 269 - Spease v. State
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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““(a) The term ‘handgun’ as used in this subheading shall include any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed on the person, including a short-barreled shotgun and a short-barreled rifle as these terms are defined below, except it shall not include a shotgun, rifle or antique firearm as those terms are defined below.” (Emphasis added.)”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““In Todd , it was manifest that the weapon propelled a projectile, and the issue turned on the nature of the propellant. In the case subjudice, it is manifest that the propellant was an explosive charge, and the issue turns on whether the weapon propelled a projectile. The evidence adduced was legally sufficient to show, in light of the definitions above set out, that the weapon here propelled projectiles, and the expert witness so testified. ‘Tear gas’, he explained, ‘is a rather large quantity of very fine particles, it’s not actually a gas at all. And to fire it, firing would expel these projectiles, which are very highly irritating to the eyes.’ (emphasis added). We think that the size of the projectile is of no moment. Whether it be as big as an artillery shell or as small as a subatomic particle, it is still a projectile. “That the weapon in question was a gun is plain. That it may be carried and used in the hand is equally clear; so it was a handgun. It projected an object by means of an explosive force, and it had the appearance of a .22 caliber pistol. We have found that what it propelled were projectiles or missiles. It was capable of inflicting serious injury; ‘it would be’, the expert said, ‘extremely destructive to an individual’s eyes.’ In short, its characteristics were such as to meet all the requirements of a handgun within the contemplation of the ‘handgun’ statute. We hold that its use in the commission of a felony or a crime of violence as defined by art. ”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““(i) There has, in recent years, been an alarming increase in the number of violent crimes perpetrated in Maryland, and a high percentage of those crimes involve the use of handguns; (ii) The result has been a substantial increase in the number of persons killed or injured which is traceable, in large part, to the carrying of handguns on the streets and public ways by persons inclined to use them in criminal activity; (iii) The laws currently in force have not been effective in curbing the more frequent use of handguns in perpetrating crime; and (iv) Further regulations on the wearing, carrying, and transporting of handguns are necessary to preserve the peace and tranquility of the State and to protect the rights and liberties of its citizens.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.