State v. Knoten’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

60 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 60 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The law to be charged must be determined from the evidence presented at trial.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Marin · State v. Wharton

2. “[T]he unlawful killing of a human being in sudden heat of passion upon sufficient legal provocation. Heat of passion alone will not suffice to reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter. Both heat of passion and sufficient legal provocation must be present at the time of the killing. The sudden heat of passion, upon sufficient legal provocation, which mitigates a felonious killing to manslaughter, while it need not dethrone reason entirely, or shut out knowledge and volition, must be such as would naturally disturb the sway of reason, and render the mind of an ordinary person incapable of cool reflection, and produce what, according to human experience, may be called an uncontrollable impulse to do violence.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Grubbs · State v. Wharton

3. “In support of its second argument, that because Appellant recanted his statement he was properly denied the requested voluntary manslaughter charge, the State cites a single case, State v. Weaver, 265 S.C. 130 , 217 S.E.2d 31 (1975). In that case, the Court held there was no error in denying the defendant's request to charge that if the jury found the arresting officer used unreasonable force in effecting the arrest, the defendant's resistance would not have been unlawful. At trial, the defendant denied that he resisted arrest. The officer testified that he did not use unreasonable force in effecting the arrest. The defendant had made no pre-trial statement which would have supported the requested charge. The record contained no evidence that the officer used unreasonable force, and therefore the requested charge was not warranted. See State v. Cole, supra . Weaver is distinguishable from the instant case. Moreover, the State's argument does not accurately reflect the law of this State. In State v. Moore, 245 S.C. 416 , 140 S.E.2d 779 (1965), the defendant was charged with, and convicted of, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. The trial court refused his requested jury charge on simple assault and battery, despite testimony that the victim had received only slight injuries. The defendant testified that he had been elsewhere when the incident occurred, and under the defense's theory, he could have been not guilty of even simple assault and battery. The Court h”

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