State v. Adams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Adams argues that the jury was not properly instructed on all the essential elements of felony murder. He relies on State v. Harrison, 90 N.M. 439 , 564 P.2d 1321 (1977), which held that in a felony murder the death must be caused by the acts of the defendant or his accomplice without an independent intervening force. In Harrison, this court stated, “In view of this decision, N.M.U.J.I.Crim. 2.04 will have to be altered to conform herewith.” Id. at 442 , 564 P.2d at 1324 . Paragraph 2 of the uniform instruction, both before and after Harrison, required that defendant be found to have caused the death of the victim during the commission of the felony. Adams was tried after the decision in the Harrison case, but before the amendment to the instruction. The jury was given a modified instruction w'hich incorporated the language of the Harrison opinion. The instruction specified that the state must prove that: 3. There is a causal relationship between the robbery and the death of Gregory Martin Kary. (Emphasis added.)”

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

2. “The instructions given were adequate to define the necessary causal connection between the robbery and the homicide. To return a verdict of guilty, the jury had to find that the death of the victim was caused by Adams’ acts in the commission of the robbery.”

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