Griffith v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[T]he presumption of innocence cannot require us to enter a prior probability of zero into Bayes’ Theorem.... A zero prior probability does not simply presume a defendant is innocent. Rather, a zero probability, in fact presumes that it was impossible for the defendant to be the father. When a zero prior probability is plugged into Bayes’ Theorem (the formula), naturally the probability of paternity results becomes 0%. The presumption of innocence does not require a jury to assume it was impossible for a defendant to commit the crime charged. Rather, it requires the jury to assume as a starting proposition that the defendant did not commit the crime, until proven otherwise.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Butcher v. Commonwealth · Raymond Merril Jessop v. State

2. “The use of a prior probability of .5 is a neutral assumption. The statistic merely reflects the application of a scientifically accepted mathematical theorem which in turn is an expression of the expert’s opinion testimony. It is subject to the same conditions applied to all other testimony. The jury is free to disregard it. It can be weakened on cross and in argument. The statistic does nothing to shift the burden of persuasion or production in a criminal matter.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Raymond Merril Jessop v. State

3. “The paternity index is a value reflecting the likelihood that a tested man is the father of the child as opposed to an untested man of the same race. It is expressed as a number. If a paternity index can be assigned to a man, it means that he is that many more times likely to be the father than any other randomly selected male of his race.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Butcher v. Commonwealth