2 Va. App. 48 - Bell v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1986
Citation profile
8
cited by 8 later decisions
1
states following
May 1998
most recently cited
8 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Stockton v. Commonwealth · Williford v. United States · Clark v. Virginia · United States v. Ash · Clark v. Com.
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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“If you believe that the Defendant was to some degree at fault in provoking or bringing on the fight "with [the victim], and if you further believe that when attacked: (1) he retreated as far as he safely could under the circumstances; (2) in a good faith attempt to abandon the fight; and (3) made known his desire for peace by word or act; and (4) he reasonably feared, under the circumstances as they appeared to him, that he was in danger of being killed, or that he was in danger of great bodily harm, then the killing was in self-defense, and you shall find the defendant not guilty.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.