99 N.C. App. 184 - State v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Restitution, imposed as a condition of probation, is not a legal obligation equivalent to a civil judgment, but rather an option which may be voluntarily exercised by the defendant for the purpose of avoiding the serving of an active sentence. Shew v. Southern Fire & Casualty Co., 307 N.C. 438 , 298 S.E.2d 380 (1983). Such an imposition of restitution “does not affect, and is not affected by, the victim’s right to institute a civil action against the defendant based on the same conduct[.]” Id. (Citations omitted and emphasis added.) “Civil liability need not be established as a prerequisite to the requirement of restitution as a probation condition.” Id. (Citations omitted.) ... [B]y tying the amount which may be imposed as restitution to such compensation as could ordinarily be recovered in a civil action, the General Assembly meant only that the trial court must refer to the measure of recoverable damages applying in the relevant civil action — such as the measure of damages in a wrongful death action — for the limited purpose of computing an appropriate restitutionary amount to be imposed as a condition of probation under G.S. § 15A-1343(d). This was implicitly recognized by this Court in our prior opinion in this case. See State v. Smith, 90 N.C. App. at 167-69, 368 S.E.2d at 38-39.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 111 N.C. App. 569 - State v. Clemmons