85 Wash. 2d 758 - State v. Gosby’s Empirical Analysis
1975
Citation profile
143 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 143 later decisions — most recently March 2023 · most notably State v. Jenks (1991), 94 Wash. 2d 634 - State v. Delmarter (1980)
143 state decisions — followed in 15 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on In the Matter of Samuel Winship · Holland v. United States · United States v. Johnson · People v. Bennett · Prendez v. Craven
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 143 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"It can be said that there are no rules in our system of evidence, prescribing for the jury the precise effect of any general or special class of evidence. So far as logic and psychology assist us, their conclusions show that it is out of the question to make a general assertion ascribing greater weight to one class as to the other. The probative effect of one or more pieces of either sort of evidence depends upon considerations too complex. Science can only point out that each class has its special dangers and its special advantages."”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““When anything more than simple caution and a brief definition [of reasonable doubt] is given, the matter tends to become one of mere words, and the actual effect upon the jury, instead of being enlightenment, is likely to be rather confusion, or, . . .a continued incomprehension. In practice, these detailed amplifications of the doctrine have usually degenerated into a mere tool for counsel who desire to entrap an unwary judge into forgetfulness of some obscure precedent, or to save a cause for a new trial by quibbling, on appeal, over the verbal propriety of a form of words uttered or declined to be uttered by the judge. The effort to perpetuate and develop these elaborate unserviceable definitions is a useless one, and serves today chiefly to aid the purposes of the tactician. It should be abandoned. 9 Wigmore on Evidence § 2497 (3d Ed. 1940).””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Galvan v. State“Whether direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, or a combination of these two types of evidence is involved, the jury should only be instructed that it must be con vinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. The so-called multiple hypothesis circumstantial evidence instruction which has been required in this state . . . should no longer be given . . .”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.