Sears v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “the jury, which was . . . instructed on malice murder and voluntary manslaughter, was entitled to reject [Dawson’s] claim that when he killed [Lisa and Sands], he was “act[ing] solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person.” OCGA § 16-5-2 (a).”

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

2. “'It was for the jury to determine the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence.'”

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