State v. Doyon’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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “To be a wilful and malicious burning in the law of arson, the burning must simply be done voluntarily and without excuse or justification ... Arson is a crime of general, rather than specific intent and the requirement that the defendant act “wilfully and maliciously” does not mean that the defendant must have an actual subjective purpose that the act he does intentionally shall produce either a (1) setting afire or burning of the structure, or (2) damage to or destruction of said structure .... [T]he word “wilfully” does not add a specific intent element. “Wilfully” means intentionally as distinguished from accidentally or involuntarily and “maliciously” means that state of mind which activates conduct injurious to others without lawful reason, cause or excuse.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. United States v. Acevedo-Velez

2. “his mental capacity may have been diminished by intoxication, trauma, or mental disease so that he did not possess the specific mental state or intent essential to the particular offense charged.”

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

3. “The availability of a diminished-capacity defense turns upon whether the offense in question requires proof of a specific intent.”

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