Kearney v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Do you know whether or not he [the defendant] has ever killed a man before?”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Allison v. State · 704 So. 2d 452 - Snelson v. State

2. “[t]he manifest purpose of the testimony was to show either the motive of the accused in killing Fossett, or to attack his character for peace. In neither aspect should it have been admitted. The fact that the accused had on a previous occasion killed a man, could not prove any of the circumstances under which, or the act by which Fossett was killed, nor throw any light upon the intent with which the accused killed him. The defendant was upon trial for a distinct offense, and that offense not of the character of those in which it is admissible to prove an unlawful purpose by showing guilt of the same character on another and independent occasion... . [I]t has never been held that the malice necessary to the crime of murder may be shown by evidence of the prior, independent and disconnected killing of another person.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 704 So. 2d 452 - Snelson v. State