Fields v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1949
Citation profile
10
cited by 10 later decisions
1
states following
September 1961
most recently cited
10 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Gilbert v. Commonwealth · Bass v. Commonwealth · Taylor v. Commonwealth · Canter v. Commonwealth · Ravenscroft v. Casey
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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““When a defendant admits, or is shown to have committed the homicide, and endeavors to excuse his act on the ground of self-defense, it is incumbent upon him to convincingly establish that justification. * * * [Y]et if there is any evidence tending to disprove his testimony, the issue should be submitted to the jury. The circumstances of the case, or the credibility of the witness, or the inherent improbability of his testimony, may refute the claim that he killed the person in defense of his life, or to save himself from serious bodily harm.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.