State v. Dechaine’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

42 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 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[a] defendant may not ... without evidence of a connection between the alternative suspect and the crime, use the trial process to question witnesses in hopes of eliciting information that would convert what amounts to speculation into a connection between the other person and the crime. We will uphold the exclusion of evidence if it is too speculative or conjectural or too disconnected from the facts of a defendant’s prosecution.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Robinson · State v. Fournier

2. “The party seeking the continuance has the burden of establishing [1] that the evidence sought will be relevant and competent, [2] that a continuance will make its procurement likely, [3] that due diligence was used to obtain the evidence before the commencement of trial, and [4] that the length of the continuance sought is reasonable.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Chambers · Secrest v. State

3. “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.”

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