Nelms v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The evidence about drug dealing was not relevant to any issue in the case and was calculated to prejudice the jury by referring to extraneous matters for which appellant was not on trial. [[Image here]] The State elicited the evidence from two witnesses and referred to it during closing arguments. The evidence that people wearing beepers deal in drugs, together with the prosecutor’s closing argument that appellant had no job requiring a beeper, conveyed to the jury an extraneous matter showing other criminal conduct: appellant was a drug dealer because he wore a beeper.”

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

2. “The testimony was inadmissible evidence of extraneous criminal conduct under rule 404(b). This evidence invited the jury to convict appellant of possession because he was a drug dealer in general ... The evidence about drug dealing was not relevant to any issue in the case and was calculated to prejudice the jury by referring to extraneous matters for which appellant was not on trial. We hold it was error to admit the evidence under rule 404(b).”

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