State v. Durgin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 17 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Expert testimony may be utilized to describe the mental and emotional condition of the accused at the time the conduct complained of was committed, except that the expert should not give his opinion as to the cause of the conduct.” (Emphasis supplied.)”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Flick · State v. Upton

2. ““In deciding, if you get to that point, whether this defendant at the time of the alleged acts, if you find that he did beyond a reasonable doubt commit those acts, was or was not suffering from mental disease or defect, the standard you will follow, then, is the preponderance of the evidence and is not beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, in approaching this problem, if you find it more likely so than not so, if you find this scale tipped ever so slightly either one way or the other, then that would be sufficient as to the preponderance of proof not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.””

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

3. ““. . . if the jury is satisfied by a fair preponderance of the evidence that but for a mental disease or mental defect which substantially affected his mental or emotional processes and which sub stantially impaired his behavior controls, the accused would not have committed the acts complained of, he is not criminally responsible.” (Emphasis supplied)”

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