Murphy v. People’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In the present case, therefore, if the evidence satisfies the jury that the prisoner, at the time he committed the assault and battery on the deceased, knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, that she was sick and suffering from disease, and was thereby put in such a weak and feeble condition that his attack would endanger her life, or inflict on her great bodily harm, or hasten her death, it would justify the jury in finding implied malice, and convicting the prisoner of murder. But if he was not aware of her sickness and had no reason to suppose that his acts would do her material injury, or any harm beyond that which would be occasioned by similar acts to a person in health, there would be no sufficient evidence of implied malice.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. McAndrews v. People

2. ““If, therefore, death should ensue from an attack made with the hands and feet only, on a person of mature years, and in full health and strength, the law would not imply malice, because, ordinarily, death would not be caused by the use of such means. But the inference would be quite different if the same assault and battery were committed on an infant of tender years, or upon a person enfeebled by old’age or worn out with disease.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. McAndrews v. People

3. ““The line between those provocations which will and will not extenuate the offense cannot be certainly defined. Such provocations as are in themselves calculated to provoke a high degree of resentment, and ordinarily induce a great degree of violence when compared with those which are slight and trivial and from which a great degree of violence does not usually follow, may serve to mark the distinction.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bershenyi v. People