State v. Sweeney’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. ““The district judge could have granted a new trial, if the verdict was contrary to the evidence, for he has authority to consider the verdict and review the facts, to test its correctness. Although he cannot comment upon the facts before the jury prior to verdict, still he has the right, after verdict, to decide whether the facts proved justified or not the verdict, and, accordingly, to refuse or grant a new trial. Where he refuses such motion, this court, in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, is powerless to grant any relief from the effect .of such ruling, even if the same were erroneous. The constitutional prohibition lies to the exercise of the jurisdiction of this court to find questions of fact which were submitted to and found- by the jury. As this court was never designed to pass upon questions of fact, as a jury is called upon to do, in other words, to pass upon the guilt or innocence of the accused, it cannot, under any circumstances, review the verdict of a jury touching such guilt or innocence.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Wood