Bentley v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Finally, we are not persuaded that the tape should have been excluded because of the court’s lack of conviction that the recording was reliable. . . . It is true that from reading the transcript of the recording it appears that it contained only a part of the conversation between appellant and Mrs. Fambough. But that doesn’t mean that it should be excluded. This is merely another factor for the jury to consider in considering the impeaching weight and significance of the recording. 16”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hampton v. State · Dana v. State

2. “On this question divergent views have been expressed by the courts and legal writers. One view is that once a witness admits having made a statement conflicting with his present testimony, that ends the inquiry and further proof of the conflicting statement should not be allowed. This view is espoused by Professor McCormick. On the other hand, the position taken by other courts is that even where a witness admits having made a contradictory or inconsistent statement, that should not prevent the introduction of the statement in evidence for impeachment purposes. This is the view adopted by Professor Wigmore. We believe that the latter view which would permit introduction of the tape recording should govern in the circumstances of this case_ Mrs. Famb-rough’s credibility, which was for the jury to determine, became an important factor in the case. Her credibility was undoubtedly impaired to some extent when she at first denied and then later admitted having told appellant that she had never seen a knife. But we think that the matter should not have ended there. The jury had the duty of appraising Mrs. Fambrough’s trustworthiness. Such an appraisal might have been made with far greater discernment if the jury had been permitted to hear the taped conversation rather than being limited to hearing only Mrs. Fambrough’s simple, unemphatic admission that she made a statement to appellant which was inconsistent with her testimony at the trial. The jury ought to have had the opportunit”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 183 W. Va. 440 - State v. King

3. “Impeachment by Adverse Party. A witness may be impeached by the party against whom he was called by contradictory evidence, or by evidence that his general reputation for truth is bad, or that his moral character is such as to render him unworthy of belief. He may not be impeached by evidence of particular wrongful acts, except that it may be shown by the examination of the witness or the record of a judgment that he has been convicted’of a crime.”

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