Sweeny v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 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 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Our decisional law has long permitted the conviction of a person for theft if the evidence shows him to have been found in possession of recently stolen property without offering an explanation inconsistent with guilt when first called upon directly or circumstantially to do so. Chavez [v. State], 843 S.W.2d [586] at 587 [(Tex.Crim.App.1992)]; Prodan v. State, 574 S.W.2d 100, 102 (Tex.Crim.App.1978); Vela [v. State], 771 S.W.2d [659] at 661[ (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1989, pet. ref'd)]. This rule merely states conditions under which reviewing courts may regard the evidence as sufficient for a rational finding of guilt. Chavez, 843 S.W.2d at 588; Hardesty, 656 S.W.2d at 76-77 . This rule of sufficiency is necessarily based upon a belief that those who steal property usually remain in possession of it for some time afterwards and that persons acquiring property honestly during such an interval are typically willing to explain how they came by it. Chavez, 843 S.W.2d at 588. [[Image here]] Any explanation relating to the possession of stolen goods must be given at the time of arrest. Hardesty, 656 S.W.2d at 77 . When the party in possession gives a reasonable explanation for having recently come into possession of the stolen property, the State must prove the explanation is false. McElyea v. State, 599 S.W.2d 828, 829 (Tex.Crim.App.1980); Sonnier v. State, 849 S.W.2d 828, 831 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, pet. ref'd). The State is not required to disprove every explanation m”

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