Beecham v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

39 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 39 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The defense may offer testimony as to any specific act of violence or misconduct which evidences the violent character of the deceased under the following conditions: If offered for the purpose of showing the reasonableness of defendant’s claims of apprehension of danger, it must further appear that the acts of violence or misconduct were known to the defendant at the time of the homicide. But if offered for the purpose of showing the deceased was in fact the aggressor (not that the defendant thought the deceased was making or about to make an attack) the witness must know but it need not be shown that appellant had knowledge of the acts of violence of the deceased at the time of the homicide. Before any evidence of the deceased’s character for violence becomes admissible, however, there must be evidence of some act of aggression by the deceased which the character tends to explain (such as drawing a gun or reaching for a pocket where one is usually carried). (Emphasis added).”

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

2. “The general reputation of the deceased as a violent and dangerous character and specific acts of violence or misconduct of the deceased which show his violent character are admissible in a homicide case where there is some evidence of some act of aggression by the deceased which gives rise to a claim of self-defense on the part of the defendant.”

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