State v. Doucette’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The [victim, a deaf mute,] and her fifteen-year-old sister were walking home along Main Street in Westbrook when for the first time they encountered the twenty-year-old defendant and his companion, Arthur Gallant. After a brief chat with the victim’s sister, Gallant suggested that they smoke a marihuana cigarette. The young women acquiesced, and they all began walking toward a wooded area nearby. Finding a suitably secluded spot some distance from the street, the foursome shared the “joint,” each taking two or three puffs. That done, they paired off for the walk back to the street. The sister and Gallant were in front; the [victim] and the defendant were in the rear. After a short while, the sister noticed that the defendant and the [victim] were no longer behind her. Growing increasingly concerned, she rejected Gallant’s amorous advances and insisted that they return to the woods to locate the missing couple. Meanwhile, the defendant and the [victim] had made their way to a different spot in the woods. There, the defendant began kissing and fondling the [victim] and, after a while, succeeded in removing her pants and undergarments. The [victim] struggled and protested with increasing fervor as the defendant became more forceful and more intimate. Her strength proved insufficient, however, and the defendant eventually succeeded in penetrating her with his penis. At this, she cried out, making a noise that “sounded like a scream.” Running in the direction of the “scream,” the ”

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