State v. McKnight’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “On the morning of August 1, 1993, at the Marina Village apartments in Bridgeport, Sadie Harp told a neighbor, Samantha Henderson, that she was angry with her former boyfriend, Fernandez Jackson, and was going to have her cousins, the defendant and Akida McKnight, kill him. Shortly thereafter, a friend of Harp's, George Wright, drove Harp to the McKnights' home on Lafayette Street in Bridgeport. Harp later left with Akida McKnight and the defendant. Wright drove Harp and the McKnights back to an area in Marina Village where Jackson might be found. They located Jackson, who was outside conversing with Derrick Colson and Ronald Reed. Wright dropped off the passengers a short distance from where Jackson was standing. Colson observed that the defendant was brandishing a gun and warned Jackson to run. Harp tried to prevent the defendant from shooting Jackson by grabbing his arm, but the defendant pushed her away. The defendant fired eight or nine shots at Jackson, causing his death.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2002 Conn. Super. Ct. 6762 - In Re Jamaar McKnight, No. Cr94-0100013 (May 28, 2002)

2. “When a trial error ... does not involve a constitutional violation the burden is on the defendant to demonstrate the harmfulness of the court's error.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 751 So. 2d 537 - Goodwin v. State