Chase v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 29 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 33 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “" * * * to establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.” M'Naghten's Case, 8 Eng.Rep. 718, 722 (H.L. 1843) [[1843-60] All E.R.Rep. 227 (1843)], quoted in Hall, Responsibility and Law: In Defense of the McNaghten Rules, 42 A.B.A.J. 917 (1956).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hart v. State · Patterson v. State

2. “Although the verdict to which a juror agrees must, of course, be his own ver-diet — the result of his own convictions and not a mere acquiescence in the conclusion of his fellows, yet, in order to bring twelve minds to a unanimous result, you must examine the questions submitted to you with candor, and with a proper regard and deference to the opinions of each other. You should consider that the case must at some time be decided; that you are selected in the same manner, and from the same source, from which any future jury must come; and there is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to twelve persons, twelve men and women more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it, nor that more or clearer evidence will be produced on one side or the other. With this in view, it is your duty to decide the case if you can conscientiously do so. In order to make a decision more practicable, the law imposes the burden of proof on one party or the other, in all cases. In the present case, the burden of proof —the burden is upon the State to establish the guilt of the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt, and if you are left in doubt as to the guilt of the defendants, or either of them, such defendant or defendants is entitled to the benefit of that doubt and must be acquitted. But, in conferring together you ought to pay proper respect to each other’s opinions and reasons, with the disposition to be convinced with each other’s arguments. And, on the one ”

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

3. “[Some] courts that have considered the question have held that there is no distinction between ability to know the nature and quality of an act and the ability to know whether the act was wrong. For example, in Jessner v. State, [ 202 Wis. 184 , 231 N.W. 634, 639 (1930) ], the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that the two phrases— “express exactly the same thing, but in different language. They are synonymous, and their conjunctive use results only in emphasis. If a person is unable to distinguish between right and wrong in respect to an act, he must be unaware of the nature and quality of the act which he is doing. ...” To hold it reversible error to use the two phrases conjunctively would, in our opinion, infer that the intellect must be divided into two distinct parts. One part would be rational so that the nature and quality of the act would be understood; the other part would be irrational so there could be no understanding that the act was one generally condemned by the community and therefore wrongful. The apparent implication here would be that one mind could be simultaneously normal and abnormal, sane and insane. That this could be is not supported by established medical or psychiatric principles that have come to our attention, nor by our own study and experience and knowledge in the field of human behavior.”

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