State v. Bledsoe’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““We rule that defendant in this case by his own testimony revealed to the world an alleged confidential communication between him and his wife and by such evidence attempted to blacken her character and reputation to his own advantage and by doing so completely removed and destroyed the protection afforded him by the statute and the rule of the common law. Did the defendant by such evidence preserve the peace, confidence, and tranquility of the marital relation? The answer is obvious. The defendant by giving such evidence should not be permitted to take advantage of the statute. To permit him to do so would be contrary to all rules of justice. We rule that the defendant waived the privilege. Our ruling is supported by good authority. See 97 C.J.S. Witnesses Sec. 310, pp. 861-863, and cases there cited. “When Mrs. Bledsoe was placed on the witness stand, she not only denied that she had told her husband about having an affair with a Negro but she was examined with reference to what occurred on the night of the shooting. Defendant had, prior to the time the wife testified, stated to the court that his objection should be considered as applying to each and every question asked of the witness. The witness was cross-examined as to all of these matters and in some respects the cross-examination went beyond the examination in chief. “Much of defendant’s evidence pertained to matters which may be classified as confidential between husband and wife. In such circumstances, justice dema”

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