Haas v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

21 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Absent the statutory presumption, the testimony of the police criminalist and the evidence regarding McLean's conduct at the time of her arrest may have failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the [blood alcohol concentration] at the time of driving was at least 0.10%. Thus, McLean's constitutional right to have the State prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt was violated by the conclusive presumption applied by the judge. Accordingly, McLean is entitled to habeas relief. Although we decline to address the facial constitutionality of the statute, we note that, on its face, the type of presumption § 484.381(1) establishes is subject to varying interpretations. The statute may establish a mandatory conclusive or rebuttable presumption and thus raise serious constitutional questions, because the statute does not indicate that the factfinder is free to reject the presumption.”

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

2. “(e) If there was at that time 0.10 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person’s blood or breath, that fact shall be prima facie evidence that the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired. * * * * * * The presumptions provided in the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not be construed as limiting the introduction of any other competent evidence bearing upon the question whether the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Contreras v. Dale (In Re Dale)

3. “If you find from the evidence that the defendant had a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 percent or more, that evidence would be sufficient by itself to establish that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that her normal faculties were impaired. However, such evidence may be contradicted or rebutted by other evidence. These presumptions may be considered along with any other evidence presented in deciding whether the defendant was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent her normal faculties were impaired.”

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