587 So. 2d 1265 - Adams v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"Circumstantial evidence simply means all evidence of an indirect nature. In other words, there is direct evidence and there is indirect evidence. So circumstantial evidence is simply evidence of an indirect nature. When the evidence against a defendant is partially circumstantial or indirect, his innocence should be presumed by the jury until his guilt is established by the evidence in all of the material aspects of the case beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty, the same as if the evidence were wholly direct or wholly circumstantial. The question always comes back to: Did the State by the evidence prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? "The test of the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence in a criminal case is whether the circumstances as proven are capable of an explanation upon a reasonable hypothesis consistent with the defendant's innocence, and if they are so capable of such an explanation, then a defendant should be acquitted. Because in that instance what we are saying is that you can explain away the evidence to the point where you reach a reasonable basis for doubting the evidence before you, and in that event you're not *Page 1076 convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, so we come back to the basic instruction that the State carries the burden of proof. "So circumstantial evidence is as good as any other kind of evidence, but like that of positive evidence it must produce in the minds of the jury a conviction of guilt beyond a reasonable”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 601 So. 2d 1062 - Williams v. State

2. “"In [ Cage ] the United States Supreme Court held that when the terms `substantial doubt' and ` grave uncertainty ' are considered with the reference to the term `moral certainty,' a reasonable juror could find that the degree of proof required to convict is less than that required by the Due Process Clause."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 596 So. 2d 42 - Murphy v. State

3. “"It has long been the position of this court that the trial court's oral charge to the jury may not be viewed in bits and pieces but rather must be viewed in its entirety."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 666 So. 2d 835 - Gospodareck v. State