State v. Harris’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “assertion that he had not seen the container and syringe until after the rangers’ search required belief that a syringe could remain balanced on the rim of a plastic container during a winding drive and that during the drive, no liquid would splash out of the uncovered container. It also demanded belief that he could sit throughout the evening, as well as bend down within a few inches of them, and never notice the objects at his feet. Accepting his reasoning would have compelled the jurors to conclude either that he kept his eyes closed all night or that a miracle of spontaneous generation occurred when the rangers searched the truck.”

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

2. “had with them a “how to” book on drug use. When caught in the rangers’ search lights, they quickly bent forward, almost disappearing. A reasonable person could conclude from that evidence that the defendant sought a secluded and dark place where he could inject cocaine, that he participated in preparing for the injections after they had parked, and that, when discovered, he tried to hide the syringe and container. In particular, we note that action resembling an effort to conceal, like flight from a crime scene, constitutes admissible evidence reasonably implying consciousness of guilt.”

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

3. “evidence that does not directly prove the fact in issue but gives rise to a logical inference that the fact exists.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Nokes v. HMS Host USA, LLC