776 So. 2d 1066 - State v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[F]or the felony murder statute to apply when the underlying felony is theft, a "court must determine whether the killing is closely connected to the initial taking of the property in time, place, causation, and continuity of action." * * * If the [felony murder] rule is to have any deterrent effect, it must not be extended to killings which are collateral to and separate from the underlying felony. Moreover, requiring a close nexus between the initial taking and the killing is particularly appropriate given that the felony murder rule is "a legal fiction in which the intent and the malice to commit the underlying felony is `transferred' to elevate an unintentional killing to ... murder." * * * If, as the state contends, grand theft is an offense that continues throughout a defendant's unauthorized use, it would follow that a prosecution could commence ten years after the initial taking, so long as the defendant were caught using the property ten years later. However, we have held that grand theft is not a continuing offense for the purpose of the statute of limitations.... Acceptance of the continuing crime argument in this case would create an anomaly—a defendant could be charged with third degree felony murder even where the statute of limitations would preclude prosecution for the underlying felony of grand theft.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 793 So. 2d 69 - Baker v. State · 831 So. 2d 1230 - House v. State

2. “As we observed in State v. Williams, one of the most important factors to consider in deciding if there has been a “break in the chain of circumstances” is whether the “fleeing felon has reached a place of temporary safety.” Parker, 570 So.2d at 1051 (quoting LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law, § 7.5 (1986)). If the felon has gained a place of temporary safety after commission of the felony and before the death of the victim, the felony murder rule generally does not apply. See State v. Pierce, 23 S.W.3d 289, 295 (Tenn.2000).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 82 So. 3d 851 - Dean v. State · 921 So. 2d 38 - Wagner v. State

3. “[t]he provisions of this code and offenses defined by other statutes shall be strictly construed; when the language is susceptible of differing constructions, it shall be construed most favorably to the accused.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Baines v. State · 860 So. 2d 494 - Wallace v. State