People v. Quick’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

15 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “'"This language came from an officer whose sworn duty required him to act only in furtherance of justice, and who is bound by statutory requirements to stand entirely impartial between the complainant and the prisoner. When such an officer gives the jury to understand that what he says is under the sanction of his official oath, and the court, when applied to, declines to correct that statement, it cannot be supposed that jurors may not give credence to it; and govern their decision more or less by it. The impropriety of expressing a personal opinion to the jury upon disputed facts has always been regarded as great, and has in some notable instances led to unpleasant strictures on the character of celebrated counsel. -Whatever allowance may be made for professional enthusiasm, a deliberate and solemn averment of counsel’s opinion should never be allowed to influence the jury and, when given, as here, as an opinion under oath, it should have been at once shut out, and its influence guarded against by proper instructions as requested. For these reasons the judgment must be reversed.””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. People v. Ignofo · 2 Okla. Crim. 668 - Cox v. Territory

2. “‘ ‘And I say to you as a man and a citizen [referring to certain witnesses] that I believe they not only lied, but I believe they committed wilful and deliberate perjury,” etc.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. People v. Boos