State v. Berry’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

67 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 67 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “First, the death must be within the res gestae of the underlying crime, regardless of the sequence of events leading to the death. . . . We define res gestae in the felony-murder context as 'acts done before, during, or after the happening of the principal occurrence when those acts are so closely connected with the principal occurrence as to form, in reality, a part of the occurrence.' . . . Second, there must be a direct causal connection between the felony and the homicide. . . . Our case law finds this direct causal connection exists unless an extraordinary intervening event supersedes the defendant's act and becomes the sole legal cause of death.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Pattillo

2. “[i]n felony-murder cases, the elements of malice, deliberation, and premeditation which are required for murder in the first degree are deemed to be supplied by felonious conduct alone if a homicide results. To support a conviction of felony murder, all that is required is to prove that a felony inherently dangerous to human life was being committed and that the homicide which followed was a direct result of the commission of that felony.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. – State v. Patterson –

3. “'to all cases, state or federal, pending on direct review or not yet final.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. State v. Thomas