State v. Ortega’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The term “public document” is not defined in section 718.5.... Our task, therefore, is to place upon the statute a reasonable construction consistent with the evident legislative intent. Because the statute is penal in nature, it must be construed strictly against the State, with any doubts about its meaning resolved in favor of the accused. As we attempt to discern what activity the legislature intended to proscribe by section 718.5, we must follow the express terms of the statute and not what the legislature might or should have said.”

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

2. “A person who, having no right or authority to do so, makes or alters any public document, or any instrument which purports to be a public document, or who possesses a seal or any counterfeit seal of the state or of any of its subdivisions, or of any officer, employee, or agency of the state or of any of its subdivisions, commits a class “D” felony.”

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

3. ““[t]he crime of falsification of public records refers to those writings which evidence the completed acts of public servants, such as the minutes of courts, public boards, and commissions, or those documents which under the law must be recorded by a public officer....””

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