State v. Bowers’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The reason underlying the requirement that there must be a bona fide factual dispute regarding one element that is necessary to the greater crime but not essential to the proof of the lesser crime is that the jury should be given the option of convicting on the lesser crime only when “it constitutes a valid alternative to the charged offense,” thereby “preserving] the integrity of the jury’s role as a fact-finding body.” By the same logic, the jury’s verdict must be a plausible one.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bass v. State · 152 Md. App. 305 - Malik v. State

2. “The inquiry in assessing whether a defendant is entitled to a lesser included offense jury instruction is a two-step process. The threshold determination is whether one offense qualifies as a lesser included offense of a greater offense .... Once the threshold determination is made, the court must turn to the facts of the particular case. In assessing whether a defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed on a lesser included offense, the court must assess whether there exists, in light of the evidence presented at trial, a rational basis upon which the jury could have concluded that the defendant was guilty of the lesser offense, but not guilty of the greater offense.”

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

3. “consider the possibility of conviction for an offense consisting of the same, but fewer elements of the crime for which the defendant was brought to trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Southern Management Corp. v. Taha