State v. McFarland’s Empirical Analysis
2007
Citation profile
9
cited by 9 later decisions
1
states following
February 2019
most recently cited
9 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Jackson v. Virginia · State v. Oliveaux · State v. Weiland · 603 So. 2d 731 - State v. Hearold · Epps v. West
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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The evidence presented at trial shows the defendant broke into [the victim’s] home and raped her. [The victim] was then, based on the presence of semen and concentration of the defendant’s spermatozoa in her mouth, smothered within minutes after the defendant completed the rape. In order to smother her, the perpetrator had to hold the pillow over her face from four to seven minutes. Nothing was reported missing from the home. * * * [T]he evidence ... shows the defendant committed a violent offense against [the victim] immediately before her death, so it was reasonable for the jurors to find the defendant was the person who committed the murder. Thus, there was sufficient evidence presented at trial to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant was guilty of the second degree murder of [the victim]. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“[b]urglary laws are not designed primarily to protect the inhabitant from unlawful trespass and/or the intended crime, but to forestall the germination of a situation dangerous to the personal safety of the occupants.... In the archetypal burglary an occupant of a dwelling is startled by an intruder who may inflict serious harm on the occupant in his attempt to commit the crime or to escape from the house. The frightened occupant, not knowing whether the intruder is bent on murder, theft, or rape, may in panic or anger react violently, causing the burglar to retaliate with deadly force.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.