Jones v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

42 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 44 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Where a store owner invites the public to enter his premises he consents for the entrant to view his merchandise for the limited purpose of purchase, or to otherwise engage in a lawful activity thereon. It is not the will of the owner that entrance be made to defraud or steal from him.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 22 Va. App. 673 - Clark v. Commonwealth · 15 Va. App. 518 - Welch v. Commonwealth

2. “"[t]o constitute the crime of simple larceny, there must have been a felonious taking of the property from the possession of the owner, and the thief must, for an instant at least, have had complete and absolute possession of the stolen property, and during such possession and control he must have feloniously removed the same from the place it occupied just before he grasped, seized or laid hold of the same."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 41 Va. App. 61 - Schwartz v. Commonwealth · 54 Va. App. 700 - Carter v. Commonwealth

3. “[T]he wrongful or fraudulent taking of personal goods of some intrinsic value, belonging to another, without his assent, and with the intention to deprive the owner thereof permanently. The animus furandi must accompany the taking, but the wrongful taking of property in itself imports the animus furandi.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 15 Va. App. 518 - Welch v. Commonwealth