Ballard v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 24 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 25 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Evidence which furnishes nothing stronger than a suspicion, even though it would tend to justify the suspicion that the defendant committed the crime, [ ] is not sufficient to sustain [a] conviction. It is the actual exclusion of the hypothesis of innocence which clothes circumstantial evidence with the force of proof sufficient to convict. Circumstantial evidence which leaves uncertain several hypotheses, any one of which may be sound and some of which may be entirely consistent with innocence, is not adequate to sustain a verdict of guilt. Even though the circumstantial evidence is sufficient to suggest a probability of guilt, it is not thereby adequate to support a conviction if it is likewise consistent with a reasonable hypothesis of innocence.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 141 So. 3d 513 - Carl Dausch v. State of Florida · 992 So. 2d 848 - Burkell v. State

2. “"Given the evidence of Ballard's frequent and personal access to the premises, the State simply could not refute the possibility of his prior innocent presence in the bedroom as accounting for the hair and print. The fingerprint and hair evidence only serves to prove that Ballard was in [the victim's] apartment at some point in time, which Ballard readily admits because he was a long-time friend of the couple and socialized regularly with them."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 992 So. 2d 848 - Burkell v. State

3. “[t]he sole function of the trial court ... is to determine whether there is a prima facie inconsistency between (a) the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the state and (b) the defense theory or theories. If there is such inconsistency, then the question is for the finder of fact to resolve.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 992 So. 2d 848 - Burkell v. State