2016 Pa. Super. 143 - Commonwealth v. Packer’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. “We believe there is a qualitative difference between knowingly driving while impaired and knowingly driving when one is aware of a strong likelihood of becoming unconscious. While impairment denotes a diminished capacity for proper functioning, unconsciousness renders a person incapable of functioning, thereby ensuring a person has no opportunity to avoid a collision, and virtually guaranteeing some manner of accident. Accordingly, when Packer drove her vehicle immediately after, “huffing” at least three times,'knowing the likelihood that she could black out and become unconscious, she “disregarded an unjustified and extremely high risk” that her actions “might .cause death or serious bodily injury.” Therefore, the evidence presented to the jury was sufficient to prove she displayed the malice needed to support the conviction of third[-]degree murder. Similarly, those same actions displayed a “conscious disregard for almost certain death or serious bodily injury” needed to demonstrate the malice required to support her conviction of , aggravated assault. Therefore, Packer’s sufficiency challenge fails.”

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