State v. Patterson’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 this record, we hold that the trial court erred in failing to instruct on manslaughter because we cannot declare as a matter of law that the killing of Robert Russell was not the result of a ‘sudden unexpected assault, encounter, or provocation tending to excite the passion beyond control.’ State v. Clough, supra; State v. Ayers, supra; and Stevenson v. United States, 162 U.S. 313 , 16 S.Ct. 839 , 40 L.Ed. 980 , wherein the United States Supreme Court said: “ ‘A judge may be entirely satisfied, from the whole evidence in the case, that the person doing the killing was actuated by malice; that he was not in any such passion as to lower the grade of the crime from murder to manslaughter by reason of any absence of malice; and yet, if there be any evidence fairly tending to bear upon the issue of manslaughter, it is the province of the jury to determine from all the evidence what the condition of mind was, and to say whether the crime was murder or manslaughter.””

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

2. ““unless we can declare as a matter of law that there is ‘an entire absence of evidence upon which to rest a verdict of guilty of manslaughter’ . . . it is the duty of the trial court to give an instruction on manslaughter.””

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