469 So. 2d 194 - Carter v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

47 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 47 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[W]here . . . a trial judge gives an instruction that is an incorrect statement of the law and necessarily misleading to the jury, and the effect of that instruction is to negate the defendant's only defense, it is fundamental error and highly prejudicial to the defendant.”

   8 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Andujar-Ruiz v. State · Williams v. State

2. “The last major jury instruction that I would like to go over with you is the retreat aspect of the law that says if you're in your own home you don't have to retreat, but there are some parameters to this law. It is not carte blanche that if somebody comes to the door and you think they're committing whatever you can't just shoot them. If in the middle of the night I wake up and go downstairs, and I see a burglar and I have a gun in my hand and I say stop, and this person says, please don't shoot me, I give up, I don't have the right to say, well, too bad, Buddy, boom. And this is that law. If the defendant was attacked in his own home, or in his own premises, he had no duty to retreat and had the lawful right to stand his ground. And then it says meet force with force. There has to be an equivalent act of force coming towards him before he can return force, but it goes even further, even to the extent of using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm if it was necessary. That's number one, to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or the commission of a burglary of a dwelling. It would have to be necessary for him to use deadly force only if he thinks there is going to be harm for his building, his home is being burglarized.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 752 So. 2d 19 - Quaggin v. State

3. “(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

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