Wright v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 38 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 40 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"... The fact that the trial judge was entitled to disregard the appellant's testimony does not mean that the missing elements of the offense are supplied by rejecting this testimony. The burden of proof is on the State, and it is incumbent on the State to prove every element of the offense. See Grant v. State, 566 S.W.2d 954 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). The evidence in this case is not rendered sufficient by the trial judge's apparent disbelief of appellant's testimony. * * * * * * "Mere presence at the scene of the crime alone is not sufficient to conclude that the accused committed the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Johnson v. State, 537 S.W.2d 16 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). While it is a circumstance which tends to prove guilt, it is necessary that this circumstance be combined with other facts to show that the accused is guilty of the crime. Johnson v. State, supra. In this case, there is nothing other than appellant's presence at the scene which would tend to show his involvement in the stabbing. "A conviction on circumstantial evidence cannot be sustained if the circumstances do not exclude every other reasonable hypothesis except that of the guilt of the accused; proof amounting only to a strong suspicion is insufficient. Young v. State, 544 S.W.2d 421 (Tex.Cr. App.1976). The evidence in this case is clearly insufficient to show that the appellant stabbed the deceased." (Emphasis supplied.).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Johnson v. State

2. “... The fact that the trial judge was entitled to disregard the appellant's testimony does not mean that the missing elements of the offense are supplied by rejecting this testimony. The burden of proof is on the State, and it is incumbent on the State to prove every element of the offense. See Grant v. State, 566 S.W.2d 954 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). The evidence in this case is not rendered sufficient by the trial judge's apparent disbelief of appellant's testimony. * * * * * *”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Johnson v. State

3. “The rules of circumstantial evidence do not require that the circumstances should to a moral certainty actually exclude every hypothesis that the act may have been committed by another person, but the hypothesis intended is a reasonable one consistent with the circumstances and facts proved, and the supposition that the act may have been committed by another person must not be out of harmony with the evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Minor v. State