Keene v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““For the purpose of affecting the credibility of this material evidence of an adverse witness, directly bearing upon the one issue to be tried by the jury as to appellant’s justification for his admitted killing of Hensley, his testimony was properly subject to impeachment, as here permitted, for discrediting it.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Purcell v. Commonwealth · Commonwealth v. Jackson

2. “It is sought to justify the cross-examination of the defendant and the introduction of the testimony of Mrs. Houben upon the ground that in answering his attorney's broad question, the defendant had testified he had never assaulted or raped the prosecuting witness or any other person. The part of the question referring to the prosecuting witness was, of course, proper. But the other part was improper. It called for an answer on an irrelevant matter. A witness may not be impeached on matters that are irrelevant or collateral to the issue being tried. Incompetent evidence cannot be made the foundation for impeachment of a witness. A witness's answers to questions relating to his previous conduct are regarded as so far collateral that they cannot be contradicted by the party cross-examining unless they go to matter which the law permits to be shown for the purpose of impairing credibility.”

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

3. ““It is a fundamental principle of English and American jurisprudence that a citizen shall be tried for one offense at a time. Therefore evidence which shows or tends to show that the defendant is guilty of the commission of other crimes or offenses at other times, even though they are of the same nature, is not admissible for the purpose of showing the commission of the particular crime charged unless the other offenses are connected with it. Certain exceptions to that rule of exclusion and a wider latitude is allowed upon questions of identification where that is the sole issue. Jenkins v. Commonwealth, 167 Ky. 544 , 180 S.W. 961 , 3 A.L.R. 1522 .””

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