State v. Nolan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The law is established in this state that the silence of an accused while under arrest is not admissible against him because he is under no duty to speak.... The cases in which this rule of law has been applied are cases where the accused was asked about the alleged crime or where someone made a statement about the alleged crime in the presence of the accused_ In the instant case no question was asked of the defendant or statement made in his presence. Here, by his silence, he failed merely to deny or explain his possession of the property by claiming it as his own when he had an opportunity to do so while under arrest. We now hold that an accused’s failure to volunteer an exculpatory statement is not admissible as an admission; that it may not be shown that by his silence he failed to deny or explain while under arrest an incriminating fact as to which no question was asked_ The admission of such evidence constitutes an inva sion of an accused’s constitutional rights_” (Authorities omitted.)”

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

2. ““Impeachment by showing post-arrest silence violates the self-incrimination clause of the fifth amendment to the Federal Constitution, article 1, § 19 of the Missouri Constitution, and also results in the denial of constitutional due process. State v. Roth, supra, 549 S.W.2d [652] at 655. The state may not use such silence as affirmative proof or to impeach the defendant’s testimony. Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610 , 96 S.Ct. 2240 , 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976); State v. Pogue, supra, 563 S.W.2d [544] at 549. We hold that showing defendant’s silence after his arrest was not proper to impeach his version of the incident.””

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