Rudden v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “At one extreme, an attempted first-degree murder might cause no injury at all to the victim and might involve conduct falling far short of any immediate threat of deadly harm-the type of slight step beyond mere preparation that minimally qualifies as an attempt. By contrast, at the opposite extreme, an attempted first-degree murder might consist of a completed act of calculated deadly force that, through no lack of effort or intent by the offender, happens to fall slightly short of the mark, causing lasting and near-fatal injuries instead of death.”

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

2. “As the gap between attempt and completion narrows, the justification for disparate treatment of an offender convicted of attempted murder, [as opposed to] the completed crime, diminishes commensurately; as the crimes grow similar, so should the sentences.”

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

3. “appears to have been intended ... to reflect the exceptionally broad range of conduct encompassed within the definition of attempted first-degree murder”

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