Harrison v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1944
Citation profile
34 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 36 later decisions — most recently November 2005 · most notably Essex v. Commonwealth (1984), McLane v. Commonwealth (1960)
34 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Abdell v. Commonwealth · McReynolds v. Commonwealth · Taylor v. Commonwealth · Dingus v. Commonwealth · Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co. v. Folkes
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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“We have repeatedly said that it is the duty of the Commonwealth’s Attorney to see that the accused is accorded a fair trial. In doing so, he should refrain from observations or remarks that evince feeling and prejudice, or that are irrelevant and derogatory to the witness. During his examination of witnesses, and in his argument, he should not resort to appeals to sympathy, passion or prejudice.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“One accused of crime is entitled to a scrupulously fair and impartial trial. Nothing should be done or permitted to prejudice his case, or to obscure in the minds of the jurors the question, whether the evidence justifies them in a conclusion that he is guilty of the offense charged.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.