State v. Tibbetts’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

28 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[i]mpermissible prosecutorial comment can never be deemed harmless error as a matter of law under either of two circumstances: 1. A direct, non-ambiguous and unequivocal prosecutorial comment on the failure of a criminal defendant to become a witness. 2. An indirect prosecutorial comment which, without equivocation or ambiguity, suggests that a jury must accept as true the State’s evidence because it is undenied by a criminal defendant as a witness.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Libby · State v. McDonald

2. ““it becomes the affirmative duty of a prosecutor to refrain from the use of equivocal or ambiguous language in argument,””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Gagnon · State v. Andrews

3. “that precedent and the Maine Statute, as well as the Maine and United States Constitutions, prohibit either direct or equivocal prosecutorial comment on the defendant’s failure to testify. Such a constitutionally impermissible comment will necessarily result in the granting of a mistrial unless under appropriate standards the comment can be deemed harmless error.”

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