2011 Pa. Super. 47 - Commonwealth v. Brown’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 30 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"[t]he Fifth Amendment not only protects the individual against being involuntarily called as a witness against himself in a criminal prosecution but also privileges him not to answer official questions put to him in any other proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, where the answers might incriminate him in future criminal proceedings." Lefkowitz v. Turley, 414 U.S. 70, 77 , 94 S.Ct. 316 , 38 L.Ed.2d 274 (1973). "[T]he availability of the [Fifth Amendment] privilege does not turn upon the type of proceeding in which its protection is invoked, but upon the nature of the statement or admission and the exposure which it invites." Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454 , 462, 101 S.Ct. 1866 , 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981) (citation omitted). The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination can be asserted in any proceeding "in which the witness reasonably believes that the information sought, or discoverable as a result of his testimony, could be used in a subsequent state or federal criminal proceeding." United States v. Balsys, 524 U.S. 666, 672 , 118 S.Ct. 2218 , 141 L.Ed.2d 575 (1998). It is well-settled that the Fifth Amendment is applicable to juvenile proceedings that decide the issue of guilt and whether to adjudicate a juvenile delinquent. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 , 87 S.Ct. 1428 , 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967).”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 2015 Pa. Super. 194 - Verloic, G. v. Doe, J. · 2011 Pa. Super. 215 - Commonwealth v. Durr

2. “A facial attack tests a law’s constitutionality based on its text alone and does not consider the facts or circumstances of a particular case. An as-applied attack, in contrast, does not contend that a law is unconstitutional as written but that its application to a particular person under particular circumstances deprived that person of a constitutional right....”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 2013 Pa. Super. 305 - Commonwealth v. Rose · Peake v. Commonwealth

3. “The trial court accepted the testimony of the Commonwealth's expert, Dr. O'Brien, that Appellant was not amenable to treatment and could not be rehabilitated unless he took responsibility for his actions. Relying on Dr. O'Brien's testimony, the trial court concluded that Appellant failed to establish that he was amenable to treatment because Appellant would not "come forward and take responsibility for his actions[.]" T.C.O., 3/29/10, at 14. However, in order to accept responsibility for his actions, Appellant would necessarily have to admit guilt and incriminate himself. In essence, because Appellant did not concede guilt as a matter of fact, the trial court concluded that Appellant failed to establish that he was amenable to treatment as a matter of law. The trial court, therefore, interpreted and applied 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6355(a)(4)(iii)(G) to effectively require Appellant to admit and discuss his involvement in the actions constituting the criminal offenses.... [T]he trial court's application of 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 6355(a)(4)(iii)(G) violated Appellant's rights against self-incrimination by, in essence, concluding that Appellant had to admit guilt to prove amenability to treatment and obtain transfer to juvenile court.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In the Interest of R.D. · In Re RD