Kennedy 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. ““A ‘self-serving declaration’ is a statement made out of Court which is favorable to the interest of the declarant. Jarrell v. State, 35 Ala.App. 256 , 50 So.2d 767 (1950), rev’d on other grounds, 255 Ala. 128 , 50 So.2d 774 , aff'd, 255 Ala. 209 , 50 So.2d 776 (1951). Of course, most statements made by rational people are self-serving. In Chisolm v. State, 409 So.2d 930 (Ala.Crim.App.1981), this court noted: “ ‘The law is well settled in this State that such self-serving declarations of an accused, made before or after the offense are not admissible for him unless they are part of the res gestae.’ (Emphasis added.) “The statement in the present case was not part of the res gestae.... “Moreover, ‘[t]he prime objection to this character of proof is that it does violence to the hearsay rule. Further, it opens the door to the introduction of untrustworthy declarations and permits a party to manufacture his own evidence.’ Jarrell, supra. ‘If a self-serving declaration is inadmissible as tending to prove the truth of the matter asserted, the inadmissibility results from the hearsay rule.’ C. Gamble, McElroy’s Alabama Evidence, § 242.02 (3d ed.1977).””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 80 So. 3d 965 - Dominique Ray v. State of Alabama.

2. “`The law is well settled in this state that such self-serving declarations of an accused, made before or after the offense are not admissible for him unless they are part of the res gestae.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 730 So. 2d 627 - Woodall v. State