Case Citator › State v. Fowler

State v. Fowler

Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.

Overruled in part
Court
Supreme Court of Washington
Citation
785 P.2d 808
Decided
Confirmed treatments
1
Flagged citations read
34 of 34
Citing cases (total)
34
Treatment dates
1991
Overruled in part
A reviewed court has overruled part of this case’s holding. State v. Fowler has been overruled in part; the confirmed treatment is listed below. All 34 flagged citations have been read.
More on how this was screened

The Washington Supreme Court disapproved Fowler's conclusion that a prosecutor's comment about an absent defense witness was improper, to the extent it conflicted with the missing witness doctrine. Later Washington opinions describe State v. Blair as overruling Fowler on other grounds while continuing to apply Fowler's rules on lesser included offenses and jury instructions.

Every treatment on this page is written from the citing opinion itself, with a verbatim quote, never copied from a commercial citator. A citation flagged by our screen but not shown here was read and found not to weaken this case.

34 later cases cite State v. Fowler; 34 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.

Relying on State v. Fowler?

This page shows what later courts did to it. Ask about your specific facts and see whether it still carries your argument, with citations you can check.

Treatments

Overruled in part

  • The Washington Supreme Court disapproved Fowler's prosecutorial misconduct ruling to the extent it conflicted with the missing witness doctrine, permitting an inference from a defendant's failure to call a witness under defined conditions.

    State v. Blair · Supreme Court of Washington · filed

    This court held that the prosecutor committed error. Fowler, at 66. The court did not address the missing witness doctrine, nor did it analyze the circumstances of the case within that doctrine. To the extent Fowler might be read as inconsistent with the analysis herein, it is disapproved.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

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