Mills v. Jackson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

15 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. “In the case before this court, it is equally clear that there is a strong inference that the handwritten notations addressing the separate elements of damage were the basis for the jury’s total damage award as they add up to equal this total. Nonetheless, it would be speculation on our part to assume that the notations represent the jury’s actual answers. At most, the handwritten notations in the jury charge in this case represent the “mental process” by which the jury reached its verdict. The mental.process by which the jury determined the amount of the verdict is ordinarily not cognizable by an appellate court. Johnston Testers v. Rangel, 435 S.W.2d 927, 933 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1968, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The jury’s reasons for reaching a particular verdict, as noted by the jury in ... a handwritten footnote notation to their [sic] verdict, are irrelevant, at least in the absence of some overt act of misconduct. First National Bank in Dallas v. Zimmerman, 442 S.W.2d 674, 678 (Tex.1969).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bachicha v. Lewis