2014 Pa. Super. 70 - Commonwealth v. Lark’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 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 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “When determining the admissibility of identification testimony, this Court has held that suggestiveness in the identification process is a factor to be considered in determining the admissibility of such evidence, but suggestiveness alone does not warrant exclusion. A pretrial identification will not be suppressed as violative of due process rights unless the facts demonstrate that the identification procedure was so infected by suggestiveness as to give rise to a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Due process does not require that every pretrial identification of witnesses must be conducted under laboratory conditions of an approved lineup. “In reviewing the propriety of identification evidence, the central inquiry is whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the identification was rehable.” Commonwealth v. Armstrong, 74 A.3d 228, 238 (Pa.Super.2013) (citation omitted). Additionally, “the purpose of a suppression order regarding exclusion of identification evidence is to prevent improper police action. Thus, where a defendant does not show that improper police conduct resulted in a suggestive identification, suppression is not warranted.” Commonwealth v. Sanders, 42 A.3d 325, 330-31 (Pa.Super.2012)[.]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2016 Pa. Super. 55 - Commonwealth v. Jaynes

2. “When reviewing the propriety of a suppression order, an appellate court is required to determine whether the record supports the suppression court’s factual findings and whether the inferences and legal conclusions drawn by the suppression court from those findings are appropriate. [Where the defendant] prevailed in the suppression court, we may consider only the evidence of the defense and so much of the evidence for the Commonwealth as remains uncon-tradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the record supports the factual findings of the suppression court, we are bound by those facts and may reverse only if the legal conclusions drawn therefrom are in error. However, where the appeal of the determination of the suppression court turns on allegations of legal error, the suppression court’s conclusions of law are not binding on an appellate court, whose duty it is to determine if the suppression court properly applied the law to the facts.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2014 Pa. Super. 202 - Commonwealth v. Wilson