State v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

26 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “You are the sole judges of the credibility of each witness. You must decide for yourselves whether to believe the testimony of any witness. You may believe all or any part or none of what a witness has said on the stand. In determining whether to believe any witness, you should apply the same test of truthfulness that you apply in your everyday affairs . . . includ[ing] the opportunity of the witness to see, hear, know or remember the facts or occurrences about which they testified, the manner and appearance of the witness, any interest, bias or prejudice the witness may have, the apparent understanding and fairness of the witness, whether the witness's testimony is reasonable and whether the witness's testimony is consistent with the other believable evidence in the case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 185 N.C. App. 408 - State v. Freeman

2. “You have heard the testimony of law enforcement officials. The fact a witness may be employed by the federal or state or county government as a law enforcement official does not mean his testimony is necessarily deserving of more or less consideration or greater or lesser weight than an ordinary witness. At the same time, it is quite legitimate for defense counsel to try to attack the credibility of a law enforcement witness on the grounds his testimony may be colored by a personal or professional interest in the outcome of the case. It is your decision, after reviewing all the evidence, whether to accept the testimony of the law enforcement witness and to give the testimony whatever weight, if any, you find it deserve [s].”

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

3. “The law has recognized that some witnesses, the accomplice and informant, for example, should in some circumstances be the subject of a cautionary instruction when requested. But it would be a dismal reflection on society to say that when the guardians of its security are called to testify in court under oath, their testimony must be viewed with suspicion. This would be tantamount to saying that police officers are inherently untrustworthy. The cure for unreliable police officers is not to be found in such a shotgun approach.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 181 N.C. App. 417 - State v. McQueen