Smyth v. Morrison’s Empirical Analysis
1959
Citation profile
10 federal appellate · 16 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 31 later decisions — most recently March 2018 · most notably Jones v. Cunningham (1963), Jones v. Commonwealth (1967)
10 federal appellate · 16 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 Raymond Thomas Council v. Commonwealth · Smyth v. Midgett · Crutchfield v. Commonwealth · Hobson v. Youell · Powell v. Commonwealth
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 31 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“is to determine whether an accused is guilty or not and the measure of guilt.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. In Re: Watford · Knight v. Johnson“Upon a plea of guilty in a felony case, tendered in person by the accused after being advised by counsel, the court shall hear and determine the case without the intervention of a jury; or if the accused plead not guilty, with his consent after being advised by counsel and the concurrence of the attorney for the Commonwealth and of the court entered of record, the court shall hear and determine the case without the intervention of a jury. In such cases the court shall have and exercise all the powers, privileges and duties given to juries by any statute relating to crimes and punishments.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Knight v. Johnson“The purpose of hearing evidence is to determine whether an accused is guilty or not and the measure of guilt. One pleading guilty should not be found guilty of a higher offense than the evidence shows he committed. Under his plea of guilty of burglary, Morrison might have been sentenced to the highest punishment imposed for that act. However, in the exercise of its jurisdiction and power, the trial court properly heard the evidence and, in its discretion, found the accused guilty of the [lesser] offense shown to have been committed by him.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Knight v. Johnson
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.