Thomas v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

23 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[similar to the defense in Thomas that alleged the declar-ant had a motive to fabricate throughout due to his having been stopped by police in possession of illegal drugs, here, the defense alleged the victim had a motive to fabricate throughout: her desire to seek attention. That motive never disappeared and any of the statements she made that were admitted at trial all occurred when the motive existed. Under Thomas, that she may have later developed an additional motive, the same way the declarant in Thomas developed an additional motive when he incurred the unauthorized [vehicle] use charge, does not make her statements inadmissible. It is immaterial that the victim in this case may have had more than one motive to fabricate her testimony so long as she had any motive to fabricate at the time the statements were made.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 219 Md. App. 210 - Acker v. State

2. “At the outset, we note that the admission of evidence is committed to the considerable and sound discretion of the trial court. In that regard, all relevant evidence is generally admissible. A corollary to that rule is that irrelevant evidence is not admissible. Md. Rule 5-402. To be relevant, evidence must tend to establish or refute a fact at issue in the case. Md. Rule 5—401. Once a finding of relevancy has been made, we are generally loath to reverse a trial court unless the evidence is plainly inadmissible under a specific rule or principle of law or there is a clear showing of an abuse of discretion.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Copsey v. Park

3. “In Holmes , we explained that Md. Rule 5-802.1(b) retains the common law “premotive” requirement. In other words, as a prerequisite to admissibility, a prior statement must predate the alleged motive to fabricate. Under the common law, if a witness is attacked by a charge of fabrication or improper influence or motive, the prior consistent statement is relevant only if it was made before the source of the fabrication or improper influence or motive originated.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 219 Md. App. 210 - Acker v. State