574 So. 2d 960 - Snowden v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

21 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 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"`Elaine Scott [forensic serologist] received [in Mobile] two sealed "packets" from Officer Jean White [in Fair-hope] on July 28. Sometime later (the record does not indicate when), Ms. Scott broke the seals, opened both packets, and performed several tests on the specimens. Ms. Scott detected the presence of semen on two vaginal swabs, on the panties, and on a pair of shorts collected from the victim. She made a cutting from the panties, stapled it to a card, and sealed it. She then reseated the packet containing the shorts, other items from the victim's rape kit, and samples that had been collected from the defendant. All these materials were packaged for shipment to Lifecodes Corporation in New York. "`Ms. Scott did not remember whether she personally had packaged the materials for shipment after sealing them , or whether one of her assistants had done so at her direction. She testified that the package was "picked up at the laboratory by either Federal Express or United Parcel Service." There was no testimony regarding the date on which the package was shipped. `"On August 11, Chris Aird, the evidence technician at Lifecodes Corporation, received a package shipped by United Parcel Service ("UPS") "next day air" service from Elaine Scott. . . . The items he examined corresponded exactly to the items Elaine Scott had placed in the package.'”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Logan v. PERSONNEL BD. JEFFERSON COUNTY · Birge v. State

2. “"The injured defendant was taken to the East Alabama Medical Center. Wanda Johnson, a registered nurse on duty in the emergency room, testified that between 3:30 and 4:00 that afternoon she simultaneously drew at least three blood samples from the defendant for `diagnostic purposes' and for `legal purposes.' Each sample was placed in a prepackaged tube and each tube had a different colored top.... She did testify that she sealed each tube and identified each sample with the defendant's name and hospital number. She then gave one sample to Opelika police detective John Richardson. She gave the other samples to the `unit secretary to be sent to the lab.' She testified that `[s]omebody from the lab picked it up.' Johnson testified that tests for the emergency room were `automatically done stat [as soon as possible.].' Neither the unit secretary nor the person from the laboratory who picked up the sample testified at trial. "Jane Trip was the `toxicology coordinator' for the hospital laboratory.... She tested the one sample of the defendant's blood she received from `laboratory personnel.' This sample had a red and grey speckled top and appeared to be `intact.' She testified that the information on the sample container indicated that the sample had been taken at 3:30 p.m."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Birge v. State · 597 So. 2d 1325 - Green v. Alabama Power Co.

3. “The undertaking on that score need not rule out every conceivable chance that somehow the identity or character of the evidence underwent change. `[T]he possibility of misidentification and adulteration must be eliminated,' we have said, `not absolutely, but as a matter of reasonable probability.' So long as the court is persuaded that as a matter of normal likelihood the evidence has been adequately safeguarded, the jury should be permitted to consider and assess it in the light of surrounding circumstances.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 584 So. 2d 872 - Holder v. State · 733 So. 2d 463 - Whitt v. State