461 So. 2d 770 - Course v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Clarence Course appeals from his conviction of the crime of burglary of a dwelling in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County and sentence to serve ten years in the Department of Corrections. Having also found Course had been previously convicted of two separate felonies, one for armed robbery and another for burglary, all as charged in the indictment, the circuit judge sentenced Course as a habitual offender to serve the full ten years without parole, probation or reduction of sentence under Miss.Code Ann. § 99-19-81. . . . Course has two assignments of error, the first being that the State, simply by producing records that one "Clarence Course" was convicted of the two previous felonies, did not in and of itself identify that person as the defendant on trial. The records did furnish a presumption of such identity, however, which could have been easily overcome if erroneous. See: Branning v. State, 224 So.2d 579 (Miss.1969); Goldsby v. State, 240 Miss. 647 , 123 So.2d 429 , [ 240 Miss. 650 ,] 124 So.2d 297 , [ 240 Miss. 647 ,] 129 So.2d 127 (1960); and 1 Wharton's Criminal. Evidence, § 103, pp. 180-82 (Torcai ed. 13th ed.1972). We do add the State would be well advised to be prepared to go further than mere records, however, especially where the name is not unusual or uncommon. . . .”

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