State v. Walker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[W]hen the Missouri General Assembly enacted the criminal code, the legislature included forcible rape and statutory rape in the same statute, Section 566.030. As the code was first enacted, as had been the case pre-code, there was one crime of "rape," which could be committed by having sexual intercourse either: (1) without consent by the use of forcible compulsion; or (2) with a person less than fourteen years of age. Section 566.030 RSMo Supp. 1979. The legislature made several amendments to this rape statute in the ensuing years. Most pertinent to our discussion here are those changes made in 1994. To begin, the legislature split the alternative ways of committing rape into their own separate statutes. The legislature left the first alternative-sexual intercourse without consent by the use of forcible compulsion-in Section 566.030, and denominated that section as "forcible rape and attempted forcible rape," in place of the previous "rape" denomination. The legislature moved the other alternative way of committing rape-sexual intercourse with a person less than fourteen years old-to the newly-created Section 566.032, and denominated that crime as statutory rape in the first-degree. The legislature also defined a new crime, second-degree statutory rape, which the legislature placed in its own newly-created statutory section, Section 566.034. Next, the legislature amended the authorized terms of imprisonment, with each statute-forcible rape, first-degree statutory rape, and ”

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

2. “inflicts serious physical injury or displays a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument in a threatening manner or subjects the victim to sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse with more than one person”

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

3. “that the legislature changed the statutory scheme in such a manner, yet intended that there be only one offense for which an offender could be convicted for a single act.”

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