Whittlesey v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]he statement was spontaneous and unsolicited and, therefore, was admissible. See Bedingfield v. State , 47 Ala. App. 677 , 260 So.2d 408 (1972)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Davenport v. State · Sheely v. State

2. “"[T]he Constitution rightly leaves [the unreliability] inquiry to be resolved by state laws governing the admission of evidence and erects no standard of its own in this area. A statement rendered by one [who is emotionally disturbed] might be proved to be quite unreliable, but this is a matter to be governed by the evidentiary laws of the forum, . . . and not by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 627 So. 2d 1082 - Quinlivan v. State

3. “[s]o far as I know, the appellate courts of Alabama have not, since Connelly , determined whether a confession made by one who is [emotionally disturbed] is inadmissible under Alabama law alone.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 627 So. 2d 1082 - Quinlivan v. State