Davis v. Freels’s Empirical Analysis
583 F.2d 337 · 1978
Citation profile
21 federal appellate · 6 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 35 later decisions — most recently August 2017 · most notably Hampton v. Hanrahan (1979), Computer Systems Engineering, Inc. v. Qantel Corp. (1984)
21 federal appellate · 6 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Salem v. United States Lines Company · Haines v. Kerner · In re Master Key Antitrust Litigation · London Guarantee & Accident Co. v. Woelfle · Kerr v. City of Chicago
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 35 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““In a civil action for assault, the defendant’s belief that the plaintiff intended to do him bodily harm cannot support a plea of self-defense unless it was such a belief as a reasonable person of average prudence would have entertained under similar circumstances. It is not necessary that the danger which gave rise to the belief actually existed; it is sufficient that the person resorting to self-defense at the time involved reasonably believed in the existence of such a danger, and such reasonable belief is sufficient even where it is mistaken. In forming such reasonable belief a person may act upon appearances. In other words, it is sufficient that the danger was reasonably apparent. [Footnotes omitted.]””
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Sherrod v. Berry · Sherrod v. Berry“for the purpose of impeaching Davis' credibility, Freels could properly rely on material admissions by Davis in this original complaint”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.