Seal v. State’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. “On March 6, 2006, Seal got off work, picked up his friend John Bell, and purchased some marijuana. After smoking the marijuana, Seal and Bell purchased a muzzle-loader rifle and went to Xan Steed’s home. Laurie Thomas was visiting Steed when Seal and Bell arrived. Upon his arrival, Seal took his recently-purchased rifle into the house to show it off. During the course of his visit, while in the bedroom of the house with Bell, Thomas, and Steed, Seal began waving the rifle around making a noise as if he were firing the rifle. Thereafter, Bell handed Seal a pistol, and Seal began to wave the pistol around in the same manner as he had previously done with the rifle. While waving the pistol around, Seal pulled the trigger, and a bullet from the pistol struck Thomas in her forehead. Bell ran from the house. Initially Seal ran after Bell, but he returned to the house. When Seal returned to the house, Steed told him to call 911. Seal and Steed remained at the house with Thomas until emergency assistance arrived. Thomas and her unborn child subsequently died as a result of their injuries.”

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