Castellano v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

21 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The phrase “affirmative link” in connection with narcotic drug cases apparently appeared for the first time in Texas in Haynes v. State, 475 S.W.2d 739, 742 (Tex.Cr.App.1971). The cases therein cited did not use the term. Haynes was followed by Payne v. State, 480 S.W.2d 732, 734 (Tex.Cr.App.1972) and a legion of other narcotic cases using, the term and requiring an affirmative link. This requirement appears to have originated as an outgrowth of the Court of Criminal Appeals’ approach to a sufficiency review in circumstantial evidence cases; unless the defendant is “affirmatively” linked to the drugs or narcotics, there will be an outstanding reasonable hypothesis that the defendant did not possess the contraband at all, or at least did not know the item he possessed was of a forbidden nature, and therefore the conviction can not stand.”

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

2. “You are instructed that a person may not be convicted of delivery of a controlled substance, including marihuana, merely on the testimony of a civilian person who is acting covertly on behalf of a law enforcement agency, unless the testimony of the civilian is corroborated by other evidence in the case tending to connect the defendant with the offense committed, if you find that an offense was committed. The corroborating evidence, if any, is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense. The corroborating evidence, if any, must also tend to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense, if any, and then from all the evidence you must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offense charged against him.”

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

3. “Where the State’s case is based upon circumstantial evidence, the “exclusion of an outstanding reasonable hypothesis” test may be used as one means of making the determination whether the evidence is sufficient.”

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