State v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

45 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 46 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “... very rarely do children [sexually abused children] lie about it, especially 8-year olds or 7-year olds. So the most important thing is what the child says, how consistent a statement, the circumstances under which the child said — was it a spontaneous declaration, were there any leading questions asked, and in this case there were none. The nurse asked her, and she spontaneously, who had sexually abused her. That’s important. Well I think that’s — that’s [sic] declares who it was, and the child is the most apt person to say it, and they don’t — they essentially don’t he. Incidents of lying among children is very low, less than three percent. And as I said, the physical findings and the behavioral indicators can only support what the child says....”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Matthews · State v. Silvey

2. “The [witness's] statements that `very rarely do children [sexually abused children] lie,' that the `[i]ncidents of lying among children is very low, less than three percent,' that if the child was not asked leading questions, then the child's spontaneous response `declares who it was [who sexually abused her],' and that the `physical findings and the behavioral indicators can only support what the child says,' went beyond admissible testimony concerning general, behavioral characteristics of sexually abused children. Vouching too much for the victim's credibility, these statements supplied improper verisimilitude on the issue of whether the appellant was guilty.... ... The danger was too great that the jury accepted the doctor's testimony as conclusive of appellant's guilt without making an independent determination of the victim's credibility. The doctor's statements amounted to an impressively qualified stamp of truthfulness on the victim's story, and a miscarriage of justice will result from a refusal to reverse for plain error.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. D.W.N. · State v. DWN

3. ““Expert testimony that comments directly on a particular witness’ credibility, as well as expert testimony that expresses an opinion with respect to the credibility or truthfulness of witnesses of the same type under consideration invests ‘scientific cachet’ on the central issue of credibility and should not be admitted. ... Vouching too much for the victim’s credibility, [the doctor’s] statements supplied improper verisimilitude on the issue of whether the appellant was guilty. In addition, the testimony included improper quantification of the probability of the complaining witness’ credibility.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Hamilton · State of Missouri, Plaintiff/Respondent v. Robert Baker