State v. Timms’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Although § 31-27-1 *** does not explicitly require that the defendant consent to the taking of a blood test before that test may be introduced as evidence in a criminal prosecution, the Legislature must have intended it to include the consent safeguards explicitly provided in § 31-27-2. Both statutes concern the same subject matter, namely driving in a manner so as to threaten public safety. Furthermore, in addition to the already- enacted §§ 31-27-1 and 31-27-2, the Legislature subsequently created § 31-27-2.2, ‘Driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in death.’ The consent safeguards in § 31-27-2.2 are also not explicitly in its text, yet the Legislature tuould not have enacted two separate dñving-under-the-influence sections, intending that the consent safeguards apply only to one. ‘It follows that if a mechanical application of a statutory definition produces an absurd result or defeats legislative intent, this court will look beyond mere semantics and give effect to the purpose of the act.’ *** Thus ascertaining the intent of the Legislature, we are duty bound to give effect to that intent.” Timms, 505 A.2d at 1135-36 . (Emphasis added.)”

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