State v. Francis’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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Indeed, the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of an accused in a criminal prosecution `to be confronted with the witnesses against him.' The principal interest secured by this right is the right to cross-examine witnesses. State v. Haywood, 491 So.2d 1318 (La.1986). This interest was recognized and articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308 , 94 S.Ct. 1105 , 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974) wherein it held that the right of confrontation is paramount to the state's policy of protecting a juvenile offender. Additionally our State Constitution expressly guarantees a defendant the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses. La. Const. art. 1, Sec. 16. In Toledano, supra, the Court held that a trial court errs when it denies a defense request for production of a juvenile witness' `rap sheet' during cross-examination without first determining the content of the `rap sheet' The proper procedure, as set forth in Toledano , is that, upon request by defense counsel for specific relevant evidence with possible impeachment value, the trial judge must order submission of the witness' record of juvenile adjudications for an in-camera inspection to determine materiality. The issue then becomes whether the witness' juvenile adjudications have such discrediting value that there exists a reasonable likelihood that evidence of the adjudications would have affected the verdict and thus, must be viewed as evidence favorable to the accused.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 710 So. 2d 1187 - State v. Smith

2. “... the extreme importance and constitutional status of the right to confrontation (which includes the reasonable opportunity to impeach the witness' credibility) requires that any statutory right to confidentiality of juvenile proceedings under these circumstances must yield if the discrediting value of a prior juvenile adjudication is such that its disclosure is essential to a fair trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 710 So. 2d 1187 - State v. Smith