Cosby v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]he plain meaning of the statutory language is presumed to be what the legislature intended, and if the meaning is plain, then the court cannot base its interpretation on any other method or source.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Grise · Com. of Ky. v. Ford

2. ““General principles of statutory construction hold that a court must not be guided by a single sentence of a statute but must look to the provisions of the whole statute and its object and policy.” County of Harlan v. Appalachian Reg’l Healthcare, Inc., Ky., 85 S.W.3d 607, 611 (2002) ... In addition, “[w]e have a duty to accord to words of a statute their literal meaning unless to do so would lead to an absurd or wholly unreasonable conclusion.” Bailey v. Reeves, Ky., 662 S.W.2d 832, 834 (1984) ... The legislature’s intention “shall be effectuated, even at the expense of the letter of the law.” Commonwealth, v. Rosenfield Bros. & Co., 118 Ky. 374 , 80 S.W. 1178, 1180 (1904).' We must further acknowledge that the General Assembly^ “intends an Act to be effective as an entirety. No rule of statutory construction has been more definitely stated or more often repeated than the cardinal rule that significance and effect shall, if possible, be accorded to every part of the Act.” George v. Scent, Ky., 346 S.W.2d 784, 789 (1961).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Livingood v. Transfreight, LLC

3. “When a person commits an offense while awaiting trial for another offense, and is subsequently convicted or enters a plea of guilty to the offense committed while awaiting trial, the sentence imposed for the offense committed while awaiting trial shall not run concurrently with confinement for the offense for which the person is awaiting trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Williams v. Commonwealth