State v. Best’s Empirical Analysis
1975
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 86 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 92 later decisions — most recently December 2015 · most notably State v. Wilkerson (1978), State v. Heath (1998)
2 federal appellate · 86 state decisions — followed in 11 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 Opper v. United States · 8 Cal. 3d 672 - People v. Cantrell · Jenkins v. United States · 18 Cal. App. 3d 504 - People v. Jackson · State v. Zobel
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 92 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[W]here circumstantial evidence alone is relied on as to any one or more of the essential elements, the circumstance or circumstances must be entirely consistent with defendant's guilt and wholly inconsistent with any rational hypothesis of defendant's innocence and so convincing as to exclude a reasonable doubt that defendant was guilty of the offense charged.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. State v. Ashley · State v. Luna“[i]n making such a determination, this Court will accept that evidence, and the most favorable inferences that can be fairly drawn therefrom, which will support the verdict.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. State v. Sabers · State v. Dale“There are several elements that are the criteria for the “battered child syndrome.” They are (1) the child is usually under three years of age; (2) there is evidence of bone injury at different times; (3) there are subdural hematomas with or without skull fractures; (4) there is a seriously injured child who does not have a history given that fits the injuries; (5) there is evidence of soft tissue injury; (6) there is evidence of neglect.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. State v. Holland
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.