Bunch v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1983
Citation profile
14 federal appellate · 117 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 142 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2019 · most notably LeVasseur v. Commonwealth (1983), Frye v. Commonwealth (1986)
14 federal appellate · 117 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.
Relationships
Relies on Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · Johnson v. Zerbst · Edwards v. Arizona · Furman v. Georgia · Godfrey v. Georgia
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 142 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““a mere inspection of the statutory language in [Code § 19.2-264.2] demonstrates clearly that the term ‘vileness’ includes three separate and distinct factors, with the proof of any one factor being sufficient to support a finding of vileness and hence a sentence of death. Bunch v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 423, 442 , 304 S.E.2d 271, 282 [1983]....We have also stated that ‘Code §§ 19.2-264.2 and -264.4(C) define vileness as conduct that involves torture, depravity of mind, or aggravated battery to the victim; the use of the disjunctive word ‘or,’ rather than the conjunctive ‘and,’ signifies the availability of alternative choices.’ ””
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[The victim] may or may not have been alive at the time [Bunch] stole her property, and she may even have been dead for some time when he accomplished the theft. Neither of these eventualities is material, however; the important considerations are that robbery was the motive for the killing and that Bunch had the intent to rob when he killed [his victim]. Whitley v. Commonwealth, 223 Va. 66, 73 , 286 S.E.2d 162, 166 , cert. denied, 459 U.S. 882 (1982); see also Wm. Patterson v. Commonwealth, 222 Va. 653, 664 , 283 S.E.2d 212, 219 (1981).”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“1. Whether the sentence of death was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor; and 2. Whether the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant.”
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.