2003 Pa. Super. 471 - Commonwealth v. Halley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[W]here there is an unjustified failure to file a requested direct appeal, the conduct of counsel falls beneath the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases, denies the accused the assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, as well as the right to direct appeal under Article V, Section 9, and constitutes prejudice for the purposes of Section 9543(a)(2)(ii). Therefore, in such circumstances, and where the remaining requirements of the PCRA are established, the petitioner is not required to establish his innocence or demonstrate the merits of the issue or issues which would have been raised on appeal.”

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

2. “Trial counsel is presumed to be effective and Appellant has the burden of proving otherwise. In reviewing ineffectiveness claims, we use a three-pronged test: an appellant must demonstrate: 1) the issue underlying the charge of ineffectiveness is of arguable merit; 2) the appellant’s counsel did not have a reasonable basis for the action aimed at promoting the appellant’s interests; and 3) a showing that counsel’s ineffectiveness prejudiced the appellant’s case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2004 Pa. Super. 81 - Commonwealth v. Pond