United States v. Winston’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

27 federal appellate ·

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

1. “(1) had an agreement to achieve an illegal purpose, (2) knew of the agreement, and (3) knowingly became part of the agreement.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 461 F. Supp. 2d 929 - United States v. Bertling · United States v. Johnson

2. “Direct evidence of an explicit agreement is not necessary to prove a conspiracy; instead, a tacit understanding among co-conspirators may be, and often will be, inferred from circumstantial evidence. In many conspiracy cases there is no confession by the defendant or other direct proof that he agreed to the illegal act. However, the jury is free to consider 'all the evidence — direct and indirect — presented of the defendant’s statements and actions. In addition, the jury may draw reasonable inferences from the evidence presented about what the defendant’s state of mind was when he did or said the things presented in the evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Nolen