State v. Benner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We now decide, therefore, that conduct of a spouse — (whether by use of words, or otherwise, to convey information, attitudes or emotional states) — is capable of falling within the scope of the privilege which protects against testimonial disclosure by one spouse in a criminal proceeding in which the other spouse is the accused, only if confidentiality between husband and wife is an actual inducing factor of the conduct. Hence, if confidentiality confined to husband and wife has not been purposefully and expressly sought or invoked, it must appear, as a minimally necessary condition, that the spouse whose conduct is sought to be protected by claim of privilege must have acted in reliance upon an expectancy, reasonable under all the circumstances, that the conduct itself, or other consequences which it might convey, will be transmitted only to the spouse and to no other person (such that a confidentiality confined to husband and wife can be a reasonable possibility under the circumstances). Id. at 109. (emphasis in original).”

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

2. ““Thus, if it were to appear that defendant had suffered some special and unfair prejudice caused by consequences of the State’s efforts to achieve advance of trial information as to possible alibi contentions of defendant . . . the existence of such special and unfair prejudice to defendant would be relevant and material to the evaluation of whether the Court had abused its discretion in allowing to become operative a bill of particulars which specified a time interval for the commission of the offenses charged broader than that designated in the demand for notice of alibi.””

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

3. “predicated upon a concern to achieve the intimacy and warmth between a husband and wife which would result from the encouragement of a sharing of confidentiality between them. Id. at 108 .”

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