Stowers v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"[O]n September 14, 1983, 79 year old Edith Morris was at her Indianapolis home with her 69 year old sister-in-law, Mary Baker. While Mrs. Morris was watching television in her living room, Mrs. Baker called to her from the kitchen that someone wanted to borrow sugar. Mrs. Morris went into the kitchen and saw two black men present. During the five to ten minutes the men were present, one asked Mrs. Morris about yard work and the other, taller, one told Mrs. Morris he had just moved into the neighborhood and his mother wanted to borrow some sugar. Mrs. Morris gave them a cup of sugar. After the two men left, Mrs. Baker remained in the kitchen while Mrs. Morris went back to watch television. The taller of the two men, identified at trial as Stow-ers, and another man, returned within a few minutes. Stowers and Mrs. Baker came to the living room door. Mrs. Baker said Stowers wanted to talk to Mrs. Morris. When they returned to the kitchen, Mrs. Baker was hit over the head with a Stowers then beat Mrs. pressure cooker. Morris with her cane. She put her hands up to protect her face and the blows broke one of her fingers and bruised her hands and arms. He sprayed her face with chemical mace which she kept under the cushion of her davenport. Stowers kept asking for Mrs. Morris' money and car keys. Stowers ransacked the house, grabbed Mrs. Morris' purse and fled." Stowers v. State (1987), Ind., 512 N.E.2d 853, 854 .”

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