Sorrell v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

35 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 35 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The flight doctrine has been applied to a broad spectrum of behavior occurring after the commission of a crime: ‘flight from the scene or from one’s usual haunts after the crime, assuming a false name, shaving off a beard, resisting arrest, attempting to bribe arresting officers, forfeiture of bond by failure to appear, escapes or attempted escapes from confinement, and attempts of the accused to take his own life.’ ””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jones v. State · State v. Coleman

2. “The instruction at issue in the present case provided: A person’s flight or concealment immediately after the commission of a crime or after being accused of committing a crime is not enough to establish guilt, but it is a fact that may be considered by you as evidence of guilt.... Flight under these circumstances may be motivated by a variety of factors, some of which may be fully consistent with innocence. You must first decide whether there’s evidence of flight. If you decide there’s evidence of flight, you must then decide whether this flight shows a consciousness of guilt.”

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

3. “Here, a criminal defendant under bond absented himself from trial, did so without explanation either through counsel or by personal notification, was not located after a conscientious investigation, failed to meet his mother for a scheduled lunch and was identified by an eyewitness shortly before the defendant absented himself from the courtroom.”

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