Benbow v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “in felony cases in which the State relies on the testimony of an accomplice to the crimes, in order to justify submitting the case for the jury's determination, the State must present the testimony of at least one other witness or evidence of corroborating circumstances. The additional evidence that is required "may be circumstantial and it may be slight, and it need not of itself be sufficient to warrant a conviction of the crime charged." It must, however, be independent of the accomplice's testimony and either directly connect the defendant with the crime or justify an inference that he is guilty. In addition, the independent evidence must corroborate both the identity of the defendant and the fact of his participation in the crime. In other words, corroboration of only the chronology and details of the crimes is not sufficient, and there must be some independent evidence tending to show that the defendant himself was a participant in the crimes. Once the State adduces such evidence, it is "peculiarly a matter for the jury to determine" whether the evidence sufficiently corroborates the accomplice's testimony and warrants a conviction.”

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

2. “When evaluating the sufficiency of evidence, the proper standard for review is whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 ( 99 SCt 2781 , 61 LE2d 560) (1979). This Court does not reweigh evidence or resolve conflicts in testimony; instead, evidence is reviewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, with deference to the jury’s assessment of the weight and credibility of the evidence.”

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

3. “[i]t is not necessary that the corroborating evidence correspond to the accomplice's testimony in every particular.”

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