Colbert v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1978
Citation profile
46 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 48 later decisions — most recently November 2014 · most notably 6 Va. App. 507 - Servis v. Commonwealth (1988), McCain v. Commonwealth (2001)
46 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
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 48 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In the first place, nothing in the record suggests that the defendant personally used marijuana. Second, the quantity involved is not necessarily indicative of a lack of intent to distribute; indeed, the jury might well have inferred that the quantity seized was what remained from a larger supply held for distribution. Third, the method of packaging does indicate an intent to distribute; . . . Finally, considering the foregoing matters along with the testimony concerning money found “stuffed down” in the defendant’s pocket, the jury reasonably could have concluded that the defendant had consummated numerous sales of marijuana at the rock concert.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.