Taylor v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Moreover, scrutiny of the analysis suggested in the motions for rehearing (that the focus of our inquiry should be on “any evidence which could rationally support the verdict”) reveals it to be functionally indistinguishable from that specifically rejected by the Supreme Court in Jackson as violative of the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, as the motions for rehearing persuasively argue, this Court’s opinions have never held the circumstantial evidence analysis constitutes a different standard for review from that to be ultimately applied in direct evidence cases. If the State’s evidence supports an inference other than a finding of the essential elements of the crime, then no trier of fact could rationally find the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt — and this is true irrespective of the character of the evidence. In sum, we are convinced there are no better analytical guidelines for assaying whether a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt in any given conviction had upon circumstantial evidence than those we currently employ. 8”

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