Evans v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 14 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Larceny,” without further qualification, is a general term encompassing all of the statutory forms of larceny. See People v. Crane, 356 Ill. 276 , 190 N.E. 355 (1934); State v. Cabbell, 252 N.W.2d 451 (Iowa 1977). It is apparent from the language of T.C.A. § 40-2801 that the legislature understood the term’s use in T.C.A. § 40-2712 to be in this general sense, for after incorporating by reference “larceny” as used in that statute as one of the specified crimes under the habitual criminal act, they expressly excluded petit larceny from that category. Such a proviso would have been unnecessary had they not understood “larceny” as used in T.C.A. § 40-2712 to include all of the statutory forms of that crime. Thus, a conviction for any of these offenses — with the express exception of petit larceny — may serve as one of the specified offenses for the purpose of establishing a defendant’s status as an habitual criminal, and the trial judge’s instruction to the jury in this case to the effect that the petitioner’s conviction for larceny from the person could be employed for that purpose were correct.”

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

2. “... [T]o bring the defendant within the ambit of the [habitual criminal] statute, the State must show that he was an habitual criminal at the time he committed the principal offense. Of necessity, such a showing must be made independently of that offense. Therefore, we hold that the present offense, the punishment of which the State seeks to enhance, may not be used as one of the convictions necessary to bring the defendant within the definition of an habitual criminal. 571 S.W.2d at 285.”

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