Brown v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “On appeal, appellant maintains that the standard jury instruction on self-defense is fundamentally flawed, because it erroneously indicates that an injury to the victim is required before a jury may find that a defendant acted in self-defense. Recently, in Bassallo ..., we decided this very issue and held that the trial court fundamentally errs in giving the standard jury instruction on self-defense, which included the word “injury,” where injury was not an element of the crime and the state presented no evidence of injury to the victim. In that case, as in this one, the prosecutor also used the “no injury” response to the claim of self-defense in closing argument. Bassallo concluded that the error in the instruction was fundamental error, because it negated the defendant’s sole defense to the crime charged. Id. at 1211 (citing Martinez v. State, 933 So.2d 1155, 1166 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)). Just as in Bassallo , injury was not an essential element of any of the crimes, and there was no evidence of injury to the deputy. Because the jury instruction on self-defense indicated that the defense applied only if the victim suffered an “injury,” and the state argued that the instruction did not apply because no injury occurred to the victim, fundamental error occurred in the instruction on self-defense, negating appellant’s sole defense. Because of the error, we reverse for a new trial on battery on a law enforcement officer.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bryant Daniel Neal v. State of Florida