Duncan v. Seeley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 7 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. ““On the trial the plaintiff, being on the stand, was questioned by his counsel as to the time when he was at the place of the alleged sale after the sale was made; it being deemed important to show that he was there on a certain day. Plaintiff, in reply, stated that he could not state positively without looking at something to refresh his memory; and, after professing to look, he stated, further, that what he had looked at did refresh his memory. He was then called upon by defendant’s counsel to produce the memorandum at which ho had looked; but the counsel for plaintiff objected, and the court sustained the objection. We think this was erroneous. The witness was in effect testifying, not from recollection, but from something which lie professed to have in writing; and the other party had a right to know what the memorandum was on which he relied, and whether it had any legitimate tendency to bring the fact in controversy to mind. It would be a dangerous doctrino which would permit a witness to testify from secret memoranda in the way which was permitted here. The error was not cured in this case by the plaintiff offering on the next day, on the conclusion of his testimony, to produco the memorandum. The defendant was entitled to see it at the time, in order to test the candor and integrity of the witness; and the opportunity for such a test might be lost by a delay which an unscrupulous witness might improve by preparing to procure something to exhibit.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Morris v. United States