State v. Watson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

76 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 76 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Members of the jury, a reasonable doubt, or at least a definition of that [sic] is acceptable by our Supreme Court, is that it is not a vain, imaginary or fanciful doubt, but rather it is one based upon sanity or saneness and rationality. And when it is said that the jury must be satisfied of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, it means that you must be fully satisfied or entirely convinced or satisfied to a moral certainty of the truth of the charge, and after considering and comparing and weighing all the evidence, or the lack of that evidence, as the case may be, if your minds are left in such condition that you cannot say that you have abiding faith to a moral certainty of the defendant's guilt of one or more or all of those charges, then under those circumstances, you have a reasonable doubt. Otherwise, you do not. A reasonable doubt, as that term is employed in the administration of criminal law, is an honest, substantial misgiving, one generated by the insufficiency which fails to convince your judgment and conscience and satisfy your reason as to the guilt of the accused. A reasonable doubt is not a doubt suggested by the ingenuity of counsel, or by your own ingenuity not legitimately warranted by the testimony or the lack thereof; nor is it one born of a merciful inclination or disposition to permit a defendant to escape the penalty of the law; nor is it one prompted by sympathy for him or anyone connected with him.”

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

2. ““A reasonable doubt is not an imaginary or fanciful doubt, but is a sane, rational doubt that arises out of the evidence or the lack of evidence of (sic) some deficiency in it. A reasonable doubt, as that term is employed in the administration of justice, is an honest, substantial misgiving generated by some insufficiency of the proof, an insufficiency that fails to convince your mind and judgment, and to satisfy your reasoning of the defendant’s guilt.””

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

3. “has been charged with similar offenses [to defendant] in this case. And I instruct you that as such you may find that she is interested in the outcome of this trial. And ... in deciding whether or not to believe such a witness you may take her interests into account. If after doing so you believe her testimony in whole or in part, then I instruct you that you should treat what you believe the same as any other believable evidence in this case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 111 N.C. App. 636 - State v. Garcia