Sera v. State’s Empirical Analysis
2000
Citation profile
4 federal appellate · 76 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 82 later decisions — most recently February 2026 · most notably Brown v. State (2008), Davis v. State (2002)
4 federal appellate · 76 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Butz v. Hein · State Oil Co. v. Khan · Beals v. United States · Echols v. State · Misskelley v. State
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 82 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It was not speculation for the jury to believe Deal’s testimony that she had not had too much to drink. Nor was it conjecture for the jury to believe that Deal’s lack of memory was due to a documented side effect of Rohypnol ingestion known as anterograde amnesia. As Dr. Tolliver, testified, “While you are actually under the effect of the drug, you may not remember some of the things you do or some of things that are done to you or what conversations you have or what is, what your experiences are.” Dr. Tolliver further stated, “You can actually be functioning. You can be talking. You can be carrying on a conversation just like we are now and you may remember a little bit of it or you may, even may remember all of it or you may remember none of it or you may remember part of it.” Regarding the “Macaroni Grill” incident, Dr. Tolliver stated that Deal’s complaints of not being able to remember the trip home from the restaurant, and the stomach pains and cramping she experienced, would also be consistent with Rohypnol ingestion, especially when taken with alcohol. The sickness she felt was consistent with Deal’s experience after the “Montieello” incident in which the videotape shows unequivocally that she was unconscious throughout most of the sexual encounter and, in fact, snored occasionally. The evidence showed that during the relevant time period Sera had access to the drug Rohypnol. Clearly, Sera had the opportunity, the scheme, or plan in place, and he had already carried i”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a *MCLIII person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“All of these apparently isolated events eventually became related and took on a more sinister light after Sera’s wife, Nancy, filed for divorce in Texas. She did so after learning of Sera’s affair with [M.H.]. According to [M.H.], she received a message from Nancy Sera on January 18, 1997, in which Nancy explained that Sera and Nancy were married and that Nancy was over seven months pregnant. Nancy requested that [M.H.] call her. [M.H.J did not call Nancy, and attempted to avoid Sera’s calls for several days. Finally, she spoke to Sera on January 24, 1997, and told him that she did not want to see him anymore. [M.H.] testified that Sera, at first, acted confused and stated that he thought they had a good relationship. [M.H.] then told Sera that she knew Nancy was still married to him and that she was pregnant. According to [M.H.], Sera called Nancy a “lying bitch” and claimed that they had not been intimate for over a year and that the child was not his. After this conversation, Sera showed up at [M.HJ’s apartment several times, but [M.H.] refused to answer the door. Nancy testified that until mid-1996, she believed she and Sera had a strong marriage, and she became pregnant with the couple’s second child in July, 1996. She testified that Sera was “thrilled” with the news. But, by early 1997 she suspected Sera was having an affair, and confirmed this during the [M.H.] incident. According to Nancy, in December 1996, a man came to the door, and Sera pretended to be his own brot”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.