M. W. W. v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The State has failed to establish, either directly or indirectly, that the appellant had any knowledge of the cannabis. The State's evidence is entirely circumstantial, and thus, no matter how strongly such evidence may suggest guilt, the conviction cannot be sustained unless the evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. See McArthur v. State, 351 So.2d 972 , 976 n. 12 (Fla. 1977). In this instance, the evidence does not exclude the "possibility of possession and scienter by others." Thompson, 375 So.2d at 636. [2] Specifically, there is a reasonable doubt as to whether the appellant's brother placed the cannabis in the end table drawer without the appellant's knowledge. When the evidence presented in a case fails to exclude such a reasonable doubt, that evidence is legally insufficient to present a jury issue on the appellant's knowledge of the presence of drugs. Therefore, the motion for a judgment of acquittal should have been granted. See Willis v. State, 320 So.2d 823, 825 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). See also McArthur v. Nourse, 369 So.2d 578, 580-81 (Fla. 1979).”

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