Bishop v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““At common law, persons who had been convicted of certain crimes were disqualified from testifying as witnesses, but the conviction contemplated by the common-law rule included the sentence or judgment of the court, and was satisfied with nothing less. (Citing cases). Our statute relating, as it does, to the same subject, and intended to make definite the particular crimes the conviction of which should disqualify, evidently uses the word ‘convicted’ in the same sense as it was used at common law in relation to the same subject-matter, and therefore in the broader sense of including the sentence or judgment of the court; and, this construction of the statute is sustained by the text writers and adjudged cases. (Citing authorities). The ruling admitting the testimony of the witness Milliken was therefore correct.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 119 So. 2d 753 - Gordon v. State

2. ““Persons who may have been convicted in any court in this state of murder, perjury, piracy, forgery, larceny, robbery, arson, sodomy or buggery shall not be competent witnesses (even a pardon of a person convicted of perjury shall not render him competent). Such conviction may be proved by questioning the proposed witness, or if he deny it, by producing a record of his conviction.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 119 So. 2d 753 - Gordon v. State