Erwin v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “First, the party must request a writ of attachment, which must be denied by the trial court. Second, the party must show what the witness would have testified to. Third, the testimony that the witness would have given must be relevant and material. If all three requirements have been met, reversible error will result “unless the appellate court determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the error made no contribution to the conviction or to the punishment.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hollins v. State · Rose v. State

2. “The first line, referred to herein as the State’s witness line, consistently permits evidence of a third party’s guilt when the third party in question is a witness for the State against the defendant, regardless of whether that witness is an accomplice witness. In the second line, herein referred to as the absent party line, the third party is neither an accomplice nor a witness. Evidence of this third party’s guilt is not admitted unless the State is relying only on circumstantial evidence.”

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

3. “the defendant must meet three criteria before evidence of a third party’s guilt is admissible. These criteria are (1) that the State is relying only on circumstantial evidence, (2) that the guilt of the third party is inconsistent with the guilt of the accused, and (3) that the facts show the third party was so situated that he might have committed the crime.”

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