Smith v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis
1971
Citation profile
34 federal appellate · 2 district · 13 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 65 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 1996 · most notably Engle v. Isaac (1982), 9 Cal. 3d 753 - People v. Serrato (1973)
34 federal appellate · 2 district · 13 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Stovall v. Denno · Speiser v. Randall · Lutwak v. United States · Coffin v. United States · Cummings v. The State of Missouri
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 65 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“. . . [A] shift in the burden of proof of an essential element of the crime does rise to constitutional proportions and renders the trial fundamentally unfair. The presumption of innocence and the harsh burden of proof placed on the State in criminal prosecutions are ... far too important and fundamental to be classified as less than constitutionally protected. Smith v. Smith, 454 F.2d 572, 579 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 885 , 93 S.Ct. 99 , 34 L.Ed.2d 141 (1972).”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Wright v. Smith · Bassett v. Smith““Alibi as a defense involves the impossibility of the Defendant’s presence at the scene of the alleged offense at the time of the alleged commission and range and evidence of showing [sic]. In respect to time and place, it must be such as would reasonably exclude the possibility of the presence.” (R. 128).”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“Evidence of alibi should come into a case like any other evidence and must be submitted to the jury for consideration of whether the evidence as a whole on the issue of presence proves the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.