51 Md. App. 102 - Bonds v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We recognize there are many times when it is impossible for the State to determine the exact date and time that any crime was committed. Therefore, sometimes specificity as to the exact time and date of the crime alleged is impossible to establish. To establish a rule that would allow a criminal defendant to demand such specificity by raising an alibi defense would thwart justice and, in our view, is not required by either the Maryland or United States Constitutions.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Malee v. State · Jackson v. United States

2. “The defendant who is charged with committing a crime, although the State cannot specify its exact date, is still protected by the requirement that the trier of fact must find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We think that in many cases the trier of fact’s determination of whether the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt will be affected by the witness’s inability to specify the exact day and time of the alleged crime and the subsequent inability of the defendant to establish an alibi defense over so long a period of time. However, the inability of the State to be so specific should not be an absolute bar to prosecution. Sufficient protections exist such that this lack of specificity does not violate an accused’s constitutional right to be apprised of the charges against him. The crux of this case was who did the trier of fact believe? In many prosecutions the outcome depends on this determination. Here, the court obviously believed the testimony of the prosecutrix and disbelieved that of the appellant.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Altgilbers

3. “Neither the indictment nor the bill of particulars limited the accusation to any particular date. There is no Maryland case law which requires, and the applicable statute does not require, that in such a case as this the State must plead and prove that the offense occurred on a specific date at a specific time. We refuse to impose any such requirement.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Malee v. State