911 So. 2d 85 - Battle v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

33 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 33 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[I]f a court fails to include all essential elements in a jury instruction and the defendant does not object at trial, the omission can be raised on appeal only if fundamental error occurred. Fundamental error is error [which] reaches down into the validity of the trial itself to the extent that a verdict of guilty could not have been obtained without the assistance of the alleged error. Fundamental error only occurs when the omission is pertinent or material to what the jury must consider in order to convict. Further, omitting from the instructions a necessary element of the crime over which the record reflects there was no dispute is not fundamental error.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Caldwell v. State · 955 So. 2d 1145 - Seese v. State

2. “[O]nce this Court accepts jurisdiction over a cause in order to resolve a legal issue in conflict, we have jurisdiction over all issues.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 936 So. 2d 619 - Childers v. State

3. “When an essential element of a crime is in dispute at trial . . . the failure to instruct the jury on that element is fundamental error.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Weaver