Ridling v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

32 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 34 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It is difficult to understand what relevance [the victim’s] other sexual encounters have to do with whether Ridling was having sex with her before her fourteenth birthday. Unfortunately, the fact that she was having sex with one older man does not prevent her from having sex with a second older man at the same time. Evidence that she was having sex with [a man other than Ridling], therefore, could not have been relevant to the jury’s determination of whether or not she was having sex with Ridling before reaching the age of fourteen. . . . Because [the victim’s] relationship with [the other man] was irrelevant to the question of [the victim’s] age when she began having sexual intercourse with Ridling, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding it.”

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

2. “In any criminal prosecution under § 5-14-101 et seq..., evidence of specific instances of the victim’s prior sexual conduct with the defendant or any other person ... is not admissible by the defendant either through direct examination of any defense witness or through cross-examination of the victim or other prosecution witness, to attack the credibility of the victim, to prove consent or any other defense, or for any other purpose.”

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

3. “[i]t was no defense that Ridling did not know Kimberly’s age, or that he reasonably believed Kimberly to be fourteen years of age or older. . . . Certainly, even if he had been apprised that she told the other men that she was over the age of fourteen, such knowledge would be of no benefit to his defense in light of § 5-14-102(b).”

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