People v. Nicolas’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “'An instruction that effectively lowers the prosecution's burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is structural error because it”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. People v. Garcia · People v. Jones

2. “The defendant is charged in count one with felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in violation of Penal Code section 192(c)(1). [¶] To prove that the defendant is guilty of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, the People must prove that: [¶] 1. The defendant drove a vehicle; [¶] 2. While driving that vehicle, the defendant committed an otherwise lawful act that might cause death; [¶] 3. The defendant committed the otherwise lawful act that might cause death with gross negligence; [¶] AND [¶] 4. The defendant's grossly negligent conduct caused the death of another person. [¶] ... [¶] The People allege that the defendant committed the following otherwise lawful act that might cause death: operating or driving a motor vehicle.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. People v. Ho

3. “Generally, California appellate courts apply either one of two standards for assessing harmless error: (1) the Chapman test (harmless beyond a reasonable doubt); and (2) the Watson test (a reasonable probability the error was harmless). [Citations.] The more stringent Chapman test applies in cases where federal constitutional errors are made; the less stringent Watson test applies in other cases.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. People v. Jones