Bass v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is well established as a general rule that a confession of guilt can only be used against the person giving the confession and is inadmissible against others under the hearsay rule. See Schepps v. State, 432 S.W.2d 926, 940 (Tex.Cr.App. 1968); Carey v. State, 455 S.W.2d 217 (Tex.Cr.App.1970); Evans v. State, 500 S.W.2d 846 (Tex.Cr.App.1973); Hearne v. State, 500 S.W.2d 851 (Tex.Cr.App.1973); Ex parte Smith, 513 S.W.2d 839 (Tex.Cr. App.1974); Lewis v. State, 521 S.W.2d 609 (Tex.Cr.App.1975); McCormick & Ray, Texas Law of Evidence, 2nd ed., Sec. 1219, p. 96; 24 Tex.Jur.2d, Evidence, Sec. 667, p. 272. “In Bruton v. United States, supra, the United States Supreme Court, overruling Delli Paoli v. United States, 352 U.S. 232 , 77 S.Ct. 294 , 1 L.Ed.2d 278 (1957), held that despite instruction to the jury to disregard the implicating statements in determining the co-defendant’s guilt or innocence, admission at a joint trial of a defendant’s extrajudicial confession implicating a co-defendant violated the co-defendant’s right of cross-examination secured by the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment. And in Roberts v. Russell, 392 U.S. 293 , 88 S.Ct. 1921 , 20 L.Ed.2d 1100 (1968), the Supreme Court held that the Bruton decision was not only applicable to the State proceeding, but that the decision was fully retroactive. “While a Bruton error is one of constitutional dimension, we do know that such error can, under some circumstances, be harmless constitutional error. Harring”

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

2. ““[T]hey are substantially similar in nature, essentially corroborate, interlock and support each other as to the offense charged—the murder of Hubert Simmons. The confessions were merely cumulative of overwhelming independent evidence which showed that Haynes and Bass were acting together during the course of the robbery in which the deceased was beaten and killed.””

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