People v. Ellis’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 federal appellate · 285 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 309 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The privilege against self-incrimination applies to evidence of “communications or testimony” of the accused, but not to “real or physical” evidence derived from him.... The results of voice identification tests fall within the category of real or physical evidence.... In such a test, the speaker is asked, not to communicate ideas or knowledge of facts, but to engage in the physiological processes necessary to produce a series of articulated sounds, the verbal meanings of which are unimportant.. .. Even though evidence obtained from a voice identification is not within the privilege against self-incrimination, the question remains whether evidence and comment on a refusal to take such a test is admissible. .. . [The rule prohibiting comment on a defendant’s refusal to testify] is not applicable when, as in this case, the defendant has no constitutional right to refuse to speak solely for purposes of voice identification.. . . Nor was defendant’s refusal to “display his voice” itself a testimonial communication. It was circumstantial evidence of consciousness of guilt, and like similar evidence, such as escape from custody . . . false alibi ... flight . . . suppression of evidence .. . and failure to respond to accusatory statements when not in police custody ... its admission does not violate the privilege. ... A guilty party may prefer not to find himself in a situation where consciousness of guilt may be inferred from his conduct, but it can scarcely be contended that the p”

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