State v. Breeze’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In evaluating a case, you may consider the lack of evidence presented by the State. Th[e]re are allegations that evidence has been lost or destroyed by the State in this case. We refer to this concept as spoliation or destruction of evidence. The State not only has the burden of proof of guilt, but it also has the burden of safeguarding evidence it possessed that could establish that the defendant is innocent or that could raise issues of doubt about his guilt. When evidence is lost or destroyed by a party, you may infer that the evidence that was lost or destroyed would have been adverse to that party. If you find first that evidence was spoiled or destroyed, and if you further find that the evidence could help establish the innocence of the defendant or create doubt about whether or not he is guilty, you may then consider those facts in deciding whether or not the State has met its burden of proof.”

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

2. “The State does not have an absolute duty to safeguard potentially useful evidence that might vindicate a defendant.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. South Carolina Department of Revenue v. Meenaxi, Inc.