State v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Unless objected to contemporaneously, an irregularity or error in the charge to the jury may not be asserted on appeal. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 801(C). Although the procedural law set forth in LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 801 states that the failure to assert a timely objection waives the issue on appeal, the jurisprudence has carved out an exception to this rule where such alleged trial errors raise overriding due process considerations. State v. Williamson, 389 So.2d 1328 (La.1980); State v. Lowery, 33,905 (La.App.2d Cir.2/28/01), 781 So.2d 713 , writ denied, 2001-1041 (La.2/22/02), 809 So.2d 978 . To determine whether such an overriding consideration is implicated, it is necessary to examine the instruction in light of the requirements of the Due Process Clause. In Victor v. Nebraska, 511 U.S. 1, 5 , 114 S.Ct. 1239, 1243 , 127 L.Ed.2d 583 (1994), the United States Supreme Court explained: The beyond a reasonable doubt standard is a requirement of due process, but the Constitution neither prohibits trial courts from defining reasonable doubt nor requires them to do so as a matter of course. Indeed, so long as the court instructs the jury on the necessity that the defendant’s guilt be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the Constitution does not require that any particular form of words be used in advising the jury of the government’s |14burden of proof. Rather, taken as a whole, the instructions [must] correctly conve[y] the concept of reasonable doubt to the jury.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 128 So. 3d 998 - State v. Mayeux