Adkins v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The right to take a human life in one’s self-defense, or apparently necessary self-defense, extends to acting in defense of another under the same circumstances; so facts which will excuse a killing in defense of self likewise will excuse a killing in defense of another, for it is a general rule that whatever a person may lawfully do for himself he may lawfully do for another. The undisputed facts in this case show not only an apparent but real danger of Cooper suffering death or great bodily harm at the hands of Ward and that he had done nothing to provoke the vicious and unwarranted assault. It is seldom that a verdict of acquittal in a homicide case should be directed, especially where the defendant admits the killing or it is clearly proved that he did so because of the necessity of a defendant, as a practical matter, establishing a legal excuse or justification, although theoretically the burden of proving that the homicide was without such excuse or justification remains to the end on the prosecution. In this case all the witnesses for the Commonwealth sustained the contentions of the defendant and witnesses introduced in his behalf that the homicide was excusable. Under either view as to the burden, we are of opinion that the court should have peremptorily instructed the jury to find the defendant not guilty. Privitt v. Commonwealth, 271 Ky. 665 , 113 S.W.2d 49 .””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Kilburn v. Commonwealth