Gooden v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1984
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 50 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 52 later decisions — most recently April 2018 · most notably 6 Va. App. 172 - Traverso v. Commonwealth (1988), Cable v. Commonwealth (1992)
2 federal appellate · 50 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 Evans v. Commonwealth · King v. Commonwealth · Bell v. Commonwealth · Beck v. Commonwealth · Kirk v. Commonwealth
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 52 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Involuntary manslaughter is defined as the accidental killing of a person, contrary to the intention of the parties, during the prosecution of an unlawful, but not felonious, act, or during the improper performance of some lawful act. Beck v. Commonwealth, 216 Va. 1, 4 , 216 S.E.2d 8, 9-10 (1975); Mundy v. Commonwealth, 144 Va. 609, 615 , 131 S.E. 242, 244 (1926). The ‘improper’ performance of the lawful act, to constitute involuntary manslaughter, must amount to an unlawful commission of such lawful act, not merely a negligent performance. The negligence must be criminal negligence. Kirk v. Commonwealth, 186 Va. 839, 847 , 44 S.E.2d 409, 413 (1947). The accidental killing must be the proximate result of a lawful act performed in a manner ‘so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard of human life.’ King v. Commonwealth, 217 Va. 601, 607 , 231 S.E.2d 312, 316 (1977). See Bell v. Commonwealth, 170 Va. 597, 611-12 , 195 S.E. 675, 681 (1938).” Gooden v. Commonwealth, 226 Va. 565, 571 , 311 S.E.2d 780, 784 (1984).”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage“No one can deny that this was a tragic accident. But [the defendant] was engaged in the lawful pursuit of a form of recreation sponsored by the Commonwealth. He was not required to insure the safety of all other hunters within the range of his [weapon]. The devotees of this sport are aware of a certain inherent risk of danger where high-powered weapons may lawfully be used. To convict [the defendant] of manslaughter, under the most favorable view of the evidence, is in effect to impose a rule of strict liability. We have not approved such a rule in civil litigation and we are not justi fied in applying it in a criminal prosecution. Although the evidence is sufficient to establish ordinary negligence, I do not agree that it is sufficient to establish criminal negligence.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent“On appeal of a conviction, we must not only view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, but we must accord to the evidence all reasonable inferences fairly deducible therefrom. In addition, the judgment of a trial court sitting without a jury is entitled to the same weight as a jury verdict; it will not be disturbed on appeal unless plainly wrong or without evidence to support it.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.