Lee v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““You are instructed that our higher courts have stated that the trial court should not undertake to define the term ‘reasonable doubt’, and frowns upon us doing so, but in that the jury has requested this court to do so you are told as follows: “A ‘reasonable doubt’ means a doübt founded upon reason. It does not mean a fanciful doubt, or a whimsical or capricious doubt, for anything related to human affairs and depending upon human testimony is open to some possible or imaginary doubt. When all the evidence in the case, carefully analyzed, compared and weighed by you, produces in your minds a settled conviction or belief of the defendant’s guilt, such a conviction as you would be willing to act upon in matters of the highest importance relating to your own affairs, when it leaves your minds in the condition that you feel an abiding conviction amounting to a moral certainty of the truth of the charge, then, and in that event you would be free from a reasonable doubt. Absolute or mathematical certainty is not required, but there must be such certainty as satisfied your reason and judgment, and such that you feel conscientiously bound to act upon it. Otherwise you would have a reasonable doubt.” (Tr. 450-451)”

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

2. ““Since territorial days this Court has repeatedly criticized the practice of the trial courts attempting to define reasonable doubt and when properly objected to, have in many instances, treated the instruction as reversible error.””

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