29 Md. App. 467 - Brown v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 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 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““On the record before us, it cannot be said, with any degree of certainty, whether the gun was loaded and simply misfired, or was unloaded. The assertion by appellant’s counsel that the gun involved was unloaded is simply a bald allegation without a shred of supportive evidence. The appellant denied being at the scene of the crime; the gun was never produced by the State; no description of the gun is in evidence; and the victim simply heard the gun click a number of times. Speculatively, it could have been a toy gun, a so-called starter’s gun firing only blank cartridges, or it could have been a lethal firearm. The evidence simply does not establish factually anything other than a ‘gun’ was pointed at the victim by the appellant and she heard it click several times on two different occasions. In the absence of some evidence from which the trier of fact, in this instance the jury, could ascertain whether or not the gun was or was not loaded, or was, in fact, an operable firearm, it cannot be said, with any degree of certainty or beyond a reasonable doubt, that the appellant intended the assault upon the victim to end in murder or grievous bodily harm. Due process ‘protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged.’ In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364 [ 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1072 , 25 L.Ed.2d 368 ]. Under the circumstances, we think the failure of the State to establish whether the ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 64 Md. App. 324 - Brown v. State

2. ““My mother started screaming. And this person who was still on the bike pointed a gun at my stomach and the gun was clicked several times. Then, the person on the bike started down the street and turned around and again aimed the gun at me; then he clicked his gun several times and then I went in the house.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 64 Md. App. 324 - Brown v. State