State v. Gay’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 20 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. “evidence which can have no other effect than to cast a bare suspicion on another, or to raise a conjectural inference as to the commission of the crime by another.... [Bjefore such testimony can be received, there must be such proof of connection with it, such a train of facts or circumstances, as tends clearly to point out such other person as the guilty party.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Armstrong v. Hobbs · Armstrong v. Hobbs

2. “When a writing, or recorded statement, or part thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require the introduction at that time of any other part of any other writing or recorded statement which ought in fairness to be considered contemporaneously with it. (Emphasis supplied).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Stokes · State v. Cheeseboro

3. “In Gay , after recognizing the standard applied in Gregory, the [South Carolina] court stated that “[i]n view of the strong evidence of appellant’s guilt-especially the forensic evidence ... the proffered evidence ... did not raise ‘a reasonable inference’ as to appellant’s own innocence.” Similarly, in the present case, as noted, the State Supreme Court applied the rule that where there is strong evidence of [a defendant’s] guilt, especially where there is strong forensic evidence, the proffered evidence about a third party’s alleged guilt may (or perhaps must) be excluded. Under this rule, the trial judge does not focus on the probative value or the potential adverse' effects of admitting the defense evidence of third-party guilt. Instead, the critical inquiry concerns the strength of the prosecution’s case: If the prosecution’s case is strong enough, the evidence of third-party guilt is excluded even if that evidence, if viewed independently, would have great probative value and even if it would not pose an undue risk of harassment, prejudice, or confusion of the issues. Furthermore, as applied in this case, the South Carolina Supreme Court’s rule seems to call for little, if any, examination of the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses or the reliability of its evidence. Here, for example, the defense strenuously claimed that the prosecution’s forensic evidence was so unreliable (due to mishandling and a deliberate plot to frame petitioner) that the evidence should n”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. STALK v. Rice