Pears v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1983
Citation profile
22 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 22 later decisions — most recently October 2007
22 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on 30 Cal. 3d 290 - People v. Watson · Page v. State · 76 Wis. 2d 30 - Wagner v. State · Neitzel v. State · Graham v. State
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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“drove recklessly, speeding, running through stop signs and stop lights and failing to slow for yield signs”
2 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Jeffries v. State · Allen v. State“A review of the sentences for second degree murder considered by the supreme court and this court since 1970 indicate that the typical sentence is twenty to twenty-five years. It is possible that the reported cases overstate sentences, since someone receiving less than . twenty years may not be strongly motivated to appeal. Twenty years is therefore a proper benchmark to measure sentences for this crime.... Obviously, a benchmark sentence can only be a guide, not a rule....”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Pears v. State“We note that in the former cases where courts have sentenced drivers who were convicted of a motor vehicle homicide to sentences in the range of ten years, a significant factor in justifying that sentence appears to be the existence of convictions for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol (now driving while intoxicated) or similar offenses. Frequently these offenses occurred after the fatal accident.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Jones v. State
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.