54 Ala. App. 237 - Smith v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1975
Citation profile
24 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 26 later decisions — most recently February 2012 · most notably Cunningham v. State (1982), Thompson v. State (2012)
24 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Parsons v. State · Boyle v. State · George v. State · Vernon v. State · 37 Ala. App. 311 - Spain v. State
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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“". . . courts should be careful not to invade the province of the jury in cases of this character. Although the evidence may be offered only by the defense, and all tend to one conclusion, yet, in view of the presumption of sanity, if the evidence is inconclusive, and reasonable inferences may be drawn that the act was that of a sane man as defined by law, the affirmative charge should be refused."”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“"Where, as here, the evidence is in conflict as to the defendant's sanity at the time of the alleged criminal homicide, such question, with proper instructions, is properly submitted to the jury. Divine v. State , 285 Ala. 488 , 234 So.2d 28 . In Cunningham v. State , 47 Ala. App. 730 , 261 So.2d 69 , this Court held that even though the only evidence presented regarding the defendant's sanity at the time of the commission of the homicide was that of one physician who testified that in his opinion the defendant was not entitled to the affirmative charge on that ground. Citing George v. State , 240 Ala. 632 , 200 So. 602 , the Court continued: `The opinion of expert witnesses as to insanity are not conclusive upon the jury; they are to be weighed like other evidence, such evidence being intended to aid the jury, and its value depending largely upon the intelligence, experience, honesty and impartiality of the witness. The jury may reject it all, though it is without conflict.' 47 Ala. App. at 733 , 261 So.2d at 71 . (Citations omitted). (Emphasis ours)."”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“Boyle, 229 Ala. at 222 , 154 So. 575 . In exceptional cases of insanity, the proof may be”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Cunningham v. State
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.