Miles v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

36 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 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[W]hether a statement is self-inculpatory or not can only be determined by viewing it in context. Even statements that are on their face neutral may actually be against the declarant’s interest. "I hid the gun in Joe’s apartment” may not be a confession of a crime; but if it is likely to help the police find the murder weapon, then it is certainly self-inculpatory. "Sam and I went to Joe’s house” might be against the declarant’s interest if a reasonable person in the declar-ant's shoes would realize that being linked to Joe and Sam would implicate the declar-ant in Joe and Sam’s conspiracy. And other statements that give the police significant details about the crime may also, depending on the situation, be against the declarant’s interest. The question under Rule 804(b)(3) is always whether the statement was sufficiently against the declarant's penal interest "that a reasonable person in the declarant’s position would not have made the statement unless believing it to be true,” and this question can only be answered in light of all the surrounding circumstances.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Walter v. State · Davis v. State

2. “[T]he most faithful reading of Rule 804(b)(3) is that it does not allow admission of non-self-ineulpatory statements, even if they are made within a broader narrative that is generally self-inculpatory.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Walter v. State · Zarychta v. State

3. “[Ejxamine [1] the source of the error, [2] the nature of the error, [3] whether or to what extent it was emphasized by the State, and [4] its probable collateral implications. Further, the court should consider how much weight a juror would probably place upon the error. In addition, the court must also determine whether declaring the error harmless would encourage the State to repeat it with impunity. In summary, the reviewing court should focus not on the weight of the other evidence of guilt, but rather on whether the error at issue might possibly have prejudiced the jurors’ decision-making_”

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