McMorris v. Com.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It is a well-settled rule that a defendant is guilty as a principal in the second degree if he is guilty of some overt act done knowingly in furtherance of the commission of the crime, or if he shared in the criminal intent of the principal committing the crime. This rule cannot be interpreted to mean that any overt act that is advantageous to the principal's criminal plan is sufficient; the defendant must also share in the principal's criminal intent. The overt act must be "knowingly in furtherance of the commission of the crime." Therefore, lack of intent is usually a defense to a conviction as a principal in the second degree. The one exception exists when there was concert of action and the resulting crime, whether such crime was originally contemplated or not, is a natural and probable consequence of the intended wrongful act.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 55 Va. App. 719 - Merritt v. Commonwealth · Thomas v. Com.

2. “[t]he Commonwealth must prove that the defendant consented to the felonious purpose and . . . contributed to its execution.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Brickhouse v. Com. · 55 Va. App. 719 - Merritt v. Commonwealth

3. “`Suspicion of guilt, however strong, or even a probability of guilt, is insufficient to support a conviction.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Brickhouse v. Com. · Rowland v. Com.