State v. Oates’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. “self-defense is not a defense to felony murder”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Milo · 239 Md. App. 228 - Nicholson v. State

2. “[H]ad the jury found that defendant acted in self-defense on the underlying felonies submitted, it could not have found defendant guilty of felony murder. . . . [T]he purpose of the felony murder rule is to deter even accidental killings from occurring during the commission of a dangerous felony. To allow self-defense, perfect or imperfect, to apply to felony murder would defeat that purpose.”

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

3. “To preserve a constitutional claim of error, the claim must be raised at the first opportunity with citation to specific constitutional sections.”

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