2003 Pa. Super. 73 - Commonwealth v. White’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In a criminal case, under the circumstances provided by law, the Commonwealth may take an appeal as of right from an order that does not end the entire case where the Commonwealth certifies in the notice of appeal that the order will terminate or substantially handicap the prosecution.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2003 Pa. Super. 267 - Commonwealth v. Stevenson · Commonwealth v. White

2. “A plea of guilty to murder generally is a unique plea, unlike anything else provided in statute or decisional law. It appears to be like a guilty plea because the defendant concedes at least some level of guilt. But the option of proceeding under Rule 590(c) is not the same as a defendant pleading guilty to the charges filed against her. In a guilty plea, no evidence is presented against the defendant. The judge in her colloquy merely assures that the defendant is aware of the facts underlying the plea. A Rule 590(c) proceeding, on the other hand still requires the presentation of evidence, the arguments of counsel and the finding of facts in support of a verdict. As a practical matter, the procedure set out in Rule 590(c) is akin to a bench or waiver trial. The criminal defendant first waives her right to be tried by a jury. Thereafter, evidence is presented against her by the district attorney and her counsel advocates on her behalf via testimony, argument or both. At the end of this proceeding, a verdict is rendered by the court. The Rule in essence provides for a form of a waiver trial for the defendant facing murder charges.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2004 Pa. Super. 336 - Commonwealth v. Passmore

3. “[T]his type of dialogue is rarely seen between a court and a defendant. It is unquestionable that the subject matter is peculiar in the courtroom setting, although it appears that the trial court was attempting to gauge [White’s] mental stability and chose a level of conversation appropriate for a twelve-year-old in order to do so.... However, in doing so the trial court managed to share personal information about itself and its family. Worse yet, the trial court told [White] that it would attempt to get her pizza while she was incarcerated, which would certainly constitute special treatment as I doubt that the trial court often attempted to obtain pizza for other alleged murderers who await trial. Whether or not the trial court’s conduct during the 12/02/99 status hearing amounts to an appearance of impropriety is a very close question.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Commonwealth v. White