State v. Baldwin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The object of laying good character before the jury ‘is to induce them to believe, from the improbability that a person of good character would have conducted himself as alleged, that there is some mistake or misrepresentation in the evidence on the part of the prosecution * * *.’ 15 AmJur., Criminal Law § 313. Here the instruction tells the jury this, in effect, if not in terms, not only in the absence of proof of good character, but in the face and presence of defendant’s admitted prior convictions, which became admissible because they could be considered by the jury to affect his credibility as a witness.”

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

2. “The previous good character of the defendant, if proved by the preponderance of the evidence, is a fact to be considered by you in determining his guilt or innocence, for the law presumes a man whose character is good is less likely to commit a crime than one whose character is not good; but if all the evidence, including that which has been given touching his character, shows him to be guilty, then his previous good character cannot excuse, palliate or mitigate the offense.”

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