301 Pa. Super. 187 - Commonwealth v. Wolfe’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 23 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 25 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"If an attorney faced with this situation were in fact to discuss with the Trial Judge his belief that his client intended to perjure himself, without possessing a firm factual basis for that belief, he would be violating the duty imposed upon him as defense counsel. While defense counsel in a criminal case assumes a dual role as a `zealous advocate' and as an `officer of the court,' neither role would countenance disclosure to the Court of counsel's private conjectures about the guilt or innocence of his client. It is the role of the judge or jury to determine the facts, not that of the attorney. "It is essential to our adversary system that a client's ability to communicate freely and in confidence with his counsel be maintained inviolate. When an attorney unnecessarily discloses the confidences of his client, he creates a chilling effect which inhibits the mutual trust and independence necessary to effective representation. It is apparent that an attorney may not volunteer a mere unsubstantiated opinion that his client's protestations of innocence are perjured. To do so would undermine a cornerstone of our system of criminal justice."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Skjonsby

2. “The allowance of continuances is largely a matter within the discretion of the lower court, and the denial of a continuance does not constitute reversible error unless there is an abuse of discretion. Commonwealth v. Kittrell, 285 Pa.Super. 464 , 427 A.2d 1380 (1981). The Supreme Court of the United States has said: [I]t is not every denial of a request for more time that violates due process even if the party ... is compelled to defend without counsel ____ Contrariwise, a myopic insistence upon expeditiousness in the face of a justifiable request for delay can render the right to defend with counsel an empty formality____ There are no mechanical tests for deciding when a denial of a continuance is so arbitrary as to violate due process. The answer must be found in the circumstances present in every case, particularly in the reasons presented to the trial judge at the time the request is denied. Ungar v. Sarafite, 376 U.S. 575, 589 , 84 S.Ct. 841, 849-850 , 11 L.Ed.2d 921, 931 (1963). (Emphasis in original)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 332 Pa. Super. 118 - Commonwealth v. Fleming

3. “it is crucial in this type of situation that the lawyer know for sure that actual perjury is involved; he must not merely suspect it”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Skjonsby