Williams v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

26 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is our opinion that section 2241, requiring the jury commissioners to take the names of those carefully selected by them for jury services for the next ensuing year, from the last returned assessor’s book, means that to be eligible for jury services, the names of the jurors selected by the commissioners must be on the last-returned assessor’s book. The object of this provision is to prevent the drum or wheel case being filled with the names of jurors composed of the wives, relatives, friends, and particular associations of the jury commissioners. This requirement of the statute may not be disregarded by the jury commissioners, and if it is overlooked or for any reason not complied with by them, upon the court’s attention being called thereto, supported by adequate evidence of the omission, the court should promptly excuse those jurors whose names are not on the last-returned assessor’s book.””

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

2. ““Before the prosecution was called for trial, the Williamses entered a motion to set aside and quash the indictment, basing it upon affidavits merely reciting the defendants ‘are informed, believe and allege the grand jury which returned the indictment against them was not drawn from the wheel and their names announced publicly as' required by law.’ With no more-before the court than this indefinite, speculative statement, the court properly overruled their motion to quash the indictment.””

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

3. ““In both civil and criminal cases ‘if for any reason the panel is depleted, the court is mandatorily required to draw from the drum or wheel case to supply vacancies, except the court may direct the sheriff to summon not exceeding, three bystanders for that purr pose,, but in neither a civil nor criminal case can he require the parties without their consent, to begin the voir dire examination with less than 24 members on the list of the petit jury containing more than three bystanders.’ ””

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