State v. Wright’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

25 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 25 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A defendant, however, does not have an unfettered right to elicit evidence regarding the adequacy of the police investigation. The reference in [ State v. Collins , 299 Conn. 567 , 599, 10 A.3d 1005 , cert. denied, 565 U.S. 908 , 132 S.Ct. 314 , 181 L.Ed.2d 193 (2011) ] to relevant deficiencies or lapses in the police investigation suggests that the defendant must do more than simply seek to establish that the police could have done more.... Even when such evidence has some probative value, the court must consider whether the probative weight of the ... evidence exceed[s] the risk of unfair prejudice to the [state] from diverting the jury's attention to collateral matters.... "All of these factors must be evaluated by the trial court in determining whether the particular inadequate investigation evidence should be admitted. That evaluation necessarily is framed by the theory of the proffering party. It is well settled that [t]he proffering party bears the burden of establishing the relevance of the offered testimony. Unless a proper foundation is established, the evidence is irrelevant.... Relevance may be established in one of three ways. First, the proffering party can make an offer of proof.... Second, the record can itself be adequate to establish the relevance of the proffered testimony.... Third, the proffering party can establish a proper foundation for the testimony by stating a good faith belief that there is an adequate factual basis for his or her inquiry.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 171 Conn. App. 328 - State v. Johnson

2. “[T]his court has recognized that defendants may use evidence regarding the inadequacy of the investigation into the crime with which they are charged as a legitimate defense strategy.... Conducting a thorough, professional investigation is not an element of the government's case.... A defendant may, however, rely upon relevant deficiencies or lapses in the police investigation to raise the specter of reasonable doubt, and the trial court violates his right to a fair trial by precluding the jury from considering evidence to that effect.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 171 Conn. App. 328 - State v. Johnson

3. “Stated simply, the record does not reflect that the defendant expressed an intention to * qualify any of the testifying officers as experts and to inquire about standard operating procedures or routine practices that had not been followed in the investigation at hand. Nor does the record establish such facts. The defendant's claim that the trial court improperly precluded his inadequate investigation defense strategy as to such a line of inquiry therefore necessarily fails.”

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