Melanson v. Nelson’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 purpose of Section 914.04 is to aid criminal prosecutions by allowing the state to elect to immunize one offender to secure the offender’s self-incriminating testimony for use in prosecuting another. Tsavaris v. Scruggs, 360 So.2d 745 (Fla.1977); State v. Powell, 343 So.2d 892 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); State ex rel. Foster v. Hall, 230 So.2d 722 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970). The statute is not intended to confer immunity where the state does not choose to employ it. Thus, the mere issuance of a subpoena does not confer immunity, Tsavaris v. Scruggs, supra at 749. Nor is the state required to foresee that its compulsory process will result in eliciting testimony the witness deems incriminating. State v. Perkins, 349 So.2d 802 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); Orosz v. State, 334 So.2d 26 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). The witness must assert his privilege against self-incrimination, upon being interrogated or ordered to surrender documents, thus presenting the state with a choice of conferring immunity and compelling the witness to testify, or relieving the witness of providing incriminating evidence. State v. Perkins, supra. ... We hold, however, that the state’s coercive purpose did not relieve Melanson of the requirement that he assert his privilege against self-incrimination and receive a grant of immunity from the state.”

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