Brown v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[I]n determining the sufficiency of corroborating evidence, the evidence need not be considered “by itself and without the aid of the testimony of the accomplice.” To meet the statutory requirement, the state must show no more than that the corroborating evidence strengthens or confirms the testimony of the accomplice; it must induce “in the mind of the jurors a rational belief that the accomplice was speaking the truth when he implicated the defendant in the criminal event.””

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

2. “The trial court is vested with broad discretion to determine whether a mistrial should be granted, because that court has the opportunity to hear the tainted evidence as it is presented and to observe the impact it has on the jury. When the court withdraws improper evidence from the jury’s consideration and cautions the jury to disregard it, the cautionary instruction is “presumed to cure any error which may have been committed....””

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

3. “A conviction shall not be had on the testimony of an accomplice unless it is corroborated by other evidence that tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime[.]”

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