The Berry Will Case’s Empirical Analysis
1901
Citation profile
7 federal appellate · 65 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 73 later decisions — most recently June 1976 · most notably Quimby v. Greenhawk (1934), Gordon v. Opalecky (1927)
7 federal appellate · 65 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Connecticut Mut Life Ins Co v. Lathrop · Higgins v. Carlton · Barber's Appeal From Probate · Williams v. State · Waters v. Waters
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 73 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The testimony of these two different classes of witnesses on the subject of men 1 tal capacity is not precisely on the same footing as to value. The attesting witnesses are considered in the law as placed round the testator to protect him against fraud in the execution of his will and to judge of his capacity, and it is their duty to inform themselves of his capacity before they attest his will, and therefore these witnesses are permitted to testify as to the opinion they formed of the testator’s capacity at the very time he was executing his will. The mere naked opinion of other persons not occupying the positions of medical men are inadmissible in reference to the mental capacity of the testator whose will may be controverted. Some such witnesses may have such knowledge as may make their opinions of testamentary capacity admissible, but such witnesses lack the opportunity given to the subscribing witnesses to form an opinion of the testator’s capacity at the moment when he executed his will. [Citing authorities] . . [27 App.D.C. at pages 546, 547]”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Thompson v. Smith
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.