Cook v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The State was obliged to prove that Petersen knowingly engaged in nonconsen-sual contact with R.H. Obviously, R.H.’s reaction to Petersen’s pre-May 1993 contacts (in particular, her explicit directions to Petersen that he stay away from her) were relevant to prove that Petersen was aware that R.H. did not consent to his post-May 1993 contacts with her. Additionally, the State was obliged to prove that R.H. was placed in fear of injury or death by Petersen’s post-May 1993 contacts. Clearly, evidence of Petersen’s long-standing course of conduct toward R.H. — his persistent refusal to stay away from her, his repeated presence at her workplace, his middle-of-the-night trespass at her home in January 1992, and his attempt to ram R.H.’s car in January 1993 — was relevant to establish that R.H. feared injury or death at Petersen’s hands. Finally, the State was obliged to prove that Petersen recklessly disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his conduct would cause R.H. to fear injury or death. Again, Petersen’s pre-May 1993 conduct was relevant to prove this element of the offense.”

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

2. “[A] trial judge must be careful to avoid taking actions that the jury would reasonably construe as partisanship. ... But [this does] not prohibit a judge from taking a role in the presentation of evidence at trial. Indeed, Evidence Rule 614 explicitly recognizes trial judges' authority to "call witnesses on [their] own motion" and to "examine any witness" called by the parties. The commentary to Rule 614 declares that "the court is not entirely a prisoner of the parties' approach to the case"; rather, "it is proper for the court to ask questions [of witnesses] in order to clear up confusion created by the parties", although] a judge's questioning "should be ... guarded so as not to constitute an implied comment" on the merits of the case.[ 12 ]”

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

3. “[The letter] tended to show Cook’s continuing attitude toward [the victim], his attitude toward the protective order, and his continuing perception of his relationship with [the victim] — thus tending to prove Cook’s state of mind from late October to late December 1998, when he committed the acts of non-consensual contact with which he was charged.”

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