31 Md. App. 332 - Jackson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 2 district · 18 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The circumstantial probability of trustworthiness underlying this exception (as well as the superior quality of the evidence) has been thoroughly explored and well set out by the recognized authorities in this field. Dean Wigmore said at § 1747, ‘General Principle of the Exception’: ‘This general principle is based on the experience that, under certain external circumstances of physical shock, a stress of nervous excitement may be produced which stills the reflective faculties and removes their control, so that the utterance which then occurs is a spontaneous and sincere response to the actual sensations and perceptions already produced by the external shock. Since this utterance is made under the immediate and uncontrolled domination of the senses, and during the brief period when considerations of self-interest could not have been brought fully to bear by reasoned reflection, the utterance may be taken as particularly trustworthy (or, at least, as lacking the usual grounds of untrustworthiness), and thus as expressing the real tenor of the speaker’s belief as to the facts just observed by him; and may therefore be received as testimony to those facts.’ ””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 37 Md. App. 695 - Mazur v. Scavone

2. ““We conclude that a State court may, in a criminal trial, under appropriate circumstances, constitutionally dispense altogether with the literal right to confrontation and cross-examination. One might view the confrontation clause and the hearsay exceptions as represented by circles, not quite concentric, but sharing a substantial area covered by both. When a question arises in the area covered by both, either rule alone provides sufficient protection to the rights of the accused.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 40 Md. App. 297 - Gregory v. State

3. ““Does the disqualification of infancy ... exclude declarations otherwise admissible? It would seem not; because the principle of the present exception obviates the usual sources of untrustworthiness ... in children’s testimony; because, furthermore, the orthodox rules for children’s testimony are not in themselves meritorious ... and, finally, because the oath-test, which usually underlies the objection to children’s testimony, is wholly inapplicable to them.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 63 Md. App. 485 - Johnson v. State