Hubbard v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1947
Citation profile
14 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 14 later decisions — most recently February 2000
14 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 3 Smith & H. 68 - Letner v. State · Hopkins v. Commonwealth · Sanders v. Commonwealth · Sikes v. Commonwealth · Hendrickson 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““It seems to us that where the cause of death was. not due to a corporal blow or injury (essential under the early common law) or to some hostile demonstration or overt act directed towards the person of the decedent, there is no criminal liability unless death or serious bodily harm was the probable and (¡natural consequence of an indirect, and ¡[unlawful actjffjthe jtccused. If there 'if reasonable doubt of tins, it would be unjust to punish the accused. * * * ' “It is, at least, speculative to say that the act of the defendant in this case was sufficiently proximate to impose i criminal responsibility upon him for the unfortunate death. We-are of opinion, therefore, that the court should have directed an acquittal.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage“In the present case the misdemeanor of the defendant must be regarded as too remote — not in time, to be sure, but as the cause. The failure of the man’s diseased heart was the cause. Livingston v. Commonwealth, 14 Grat., Va., 592.... It is, at least, speculative to say that the act of the defendant in this case was sufficiently proximate to impose criminal responsibility upon him for the unfortunate death. We are of opinion, therefore, that the court should have directed an acquittal.”
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.