Philpot v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In those cases the statements were made as dying declarations, but in each case it was pointed out that dying declarations are competent only insofar as they would be competent were they made by a living witness, and that it would not have been competent for a living witness to say, ‘He shot me for nothing,’ since such a statement in its essence is a mere expression of the opinion or conclusion of the witness. This rule of evidence is elementary and, where it is repeatedly violated on a vital issue in the case, prejudicial effect may he presumed. But in this case it can be seen at once that the testimony was prejudicial, for it was reiterated many times in the course of the trial and as repeated by each witness carried the added weight of a solemn declaration of one who conceived himself to be fatally wounded. For this reason the judgment must be reversed.””

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