Dickson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 8 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Whenever any person who has not previously been convicted of any offense under this act or under any statute of the United States or of any state relating to narcotic drugs, marihuana, or stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic drugs, pleads guilty to or is found guilty of possession of a controlled substance under W.S. 35-7-1031(c) or 35-7-1033(a)iii)(B), the court, without entering a judgment of guilt and with the consent of the accused, may defer further proceedings and place him on probation upon terms and conditions. Upon violation of a term or condition, the court may enter an adjudication of guilt and proceed as otherwise provided. Upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions, the court shall discharge the person and dismiss the proceedings against him. Discharge and dismissal under this section shall be without adjudication of guilt and is not a conviction for purposes of this section or for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, including the additional penalties imposed for second or subsequent convictions under W.S. 35-7-1038. There may be only one (1) discharge and dismissal under this section with respect to any person. This section shall not be construed to provide an exclusive procedure. Any other procedure provided by law relating to suspension of trial or probation, may be followed, in the discretion of the trial court.”

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

2. “We turn then to the first two contentions articulated by Dickson in his brief, whether the district court exceeded its authority in imposing a probationary term in excess of five years and in imposing consecutive sentences of probation. Were the circumstances otherwise, we might find a good deal of difficulty in sustaining the district court. Wyo. Stat. § 7-13-301 does not readily adapt to its application in a multi-count case. The legislative intent seems clear to the effect it can only be used once. The intent of the court to apply the statute seriatim to the four counts of this information is apparent. While Dickson is not in a good situation to complain about the invocation of the provision in this way because he agreed to it and because, had the arrangement worked out, he would have ultimately received substantial benefits, other cases might assume a different posture. We strongly recommend to our trial courts and to the prosecutors that Wyo. Stat. § 7-13-301 not be invoked in any instance in which more than one charge is being resolved.”

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

3. “a sentencing court must inquire into the reasons for the failure to pay. If the probationer willfully refused to pay or failed to make sufficient bona fide efforts legally to acquire the resources to pay, the court may revoke probation and sentence the defendant to imprisonment within the authorized range of its sentencing authority. If the probationer could not pay despite sufficient bona fide efforts to acquire the resources to do so, the court must consider alternative measures of punishment other than imprisonment.”

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