Lewis v. Halbert’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The sixth assignment of error complains of misconduct of the jury. In the hearing upon appellants’ motion for new trial, only one juror testified, and this is all the testimony given by.him: ‘In discussing the condition of the school bus, someone in the jury room suggested that it was the duty of the school trustees to- keep the bus. in good. and safe repair, and that the reason that they had not repaired it, was probably, that they were out of money and did not have anything to' repair it with, Someone in the jury room also- men4 - tioned the amount that-Lynn Halbert was getting for driving the school bus, and stated that Lynn Halbert could not ’ have kept the bus in repair on $25.00 per month, and make any money out of ■ the job. We figured Halbert .did the best he could with the bus in the shape it was.’ “This is no evidence of misconduct. It is merely a picture' of the mental processes employed in making deductions from the evidence. If this were condemned as improper conduct on the part of the jurors, it is doubtful if they could ever properly arrive at a verdict in a closely controverted case. Appellants seem to construe this testimony as disclosing that the jury received other testimony than that given upon the witness stand, but in that construction we do not concur. The evidence discloses that it was the duty of the school trustees to keep the bus in repáir, and that Halbert received a salary of $25 a month as driver. The deduction that probably the school board did”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Powell v. Whited