Thompson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A brief summary of the facts from the record most favorable to the state shows that [Thompson] and two friends, Gary Burris and Emmett Merriweather, were playing pool and talking at the M & J Social Club in Indianapolis on the evening of January 29, 1980. They asked an employee to call a cab for them so they could go to a party they knew about. Both [Thompson] and Burris had pistols on them. When the cab arrived, Burris got into the front seat and Merriweather and [Thompson] got into the back. Burris gave the driver directions and eventually had him pull into an alley. [Thompson] said, "This is not good enough," and when Merri-weather asked what wasn't good enough, [Thompson] told him to be quiet. Burris forced the driver to get into the back seat while Merriweather got into the front right seat and [Thompson] drove the cab. They drove around for approximately half an hour as Burris took the clothes off the cab driver, kept items of value, and then threw the clothes out of the window. At one point the cab driver pleaded with them, saying, "You can take my money, but just please don't hurt me." Eventually they pulled into another alley, where Burris and [Thompson] beat the cab driver on the head until he became unconscious. Burris then pulled the cab driver out of the cab, bound his hands behind his back, and shot him in the head. Merriweather argued with Burris and [Thompson] and said they would not get away with this murder. He got out of the cab and walked back to the apart”

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

2. “The Court will not weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Rather, we will consider only that evidence most favorable to the State and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom which support the verdict. If there is substantial evidence of probative value which would permit a reasonable trier of fact to find the existence of each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt the judgment must be affirmed.”

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

3. “It is clear in this case that the shooting of the cab driver occurred before [Thompson] and his accomplices carried away any of the victim's possession's. Furthermore, the robbery and the shooting were so closely connected in point of time, place, and continuity of action as to be one continuous transaction.”

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