Head v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In the instant case, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the jury to hear the disputed testimony. The trial court could have reasonably concluded that [the investigator’s] testimony, when taken in context, did not lead to any inescapable conclusions as to the substance of the out-of-court statements. Specifically, the disputed testimony revealed only that the three statements related basically the same facts; it did not reveal the substance of what those facts were. Neither did any other evidence, at that point in the trial, indicate the contents of any of the three statements, what facts the statements had in common, or how any of the facts were consistent. At best, at the time the trial court ruled on the admissibility of the testimony, the jury may have been able to deduce what [the complainant] had told [the investigator] by referencing what she had told [her aunt]. The trial court could have reasonably determined that this sort of inferential leap did not provide the requisite degree of certainty “that the State’s sole intent in pursuing this line of questioning was to convey to the jury” the contents of the out-of-court statements.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Smith v. State · Flores v. State

2. “[W]here there is an inescapable conclusion that a piece of evidence is being offered to prove statements made outside the courtroom, a party may not circumvent the hearsay prohibition through artful questioning designed to elicit hearsay indirectly. In short, “statement” as defined in [the predecessor to Rule 801(c) ] necessarily includes proof of the statement whether the proof is direct or indirect.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Gurka v. State · Javier Noel Campos v. State

3. “[W]here ffiere is an inescapable conclusion &at a piece of evidence is being offered to prove statements made outside the courtroom, a party may not circumvent the hearsay prohibition through artful questioning designed to elicit hearsay indirectly.” See Schaffer v. State, 777 S.W.2d 111, 114 (Tex.Crim.App.1989). . The Schaffer court stated:”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. McCullough v. State