312 Pa. Super. 557 - Commonwealth v. Maxwell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We acknowledge that [Lee and Garrison] don’t go very far in defining the boundaries of the lower court’s discretion when it is asked to approve a defendant’s waiver of a jury trial.[ 2 ] But in the absence of any provision in Rule 1101 defining these boundaries, we must proceed case-by-case. We therefore reverse and remand for new trial, with instructions to the lower court that if appellant on re-trial again states his intention to waive a jury trial, the court should proceed under Rule 1101 to decide whether to approve the whiver, with the additional instruction that if the court decides to disapprove the waiver, it should state the reasons for its decision, so that on any further appeal we may decide whether it has acted within its discretion.”

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

2. “Rule 1101 Waiver of Jury Trial In all cases, the defendant may waive a jury trial with the consent of his attorney, if any, and approval by a judge of the court in which the case is pending, and elect to be tried by a judge without a jury. The judge shall ascertain from the defendant whether this is a knowing and intelligent waiver, and such colloquy shall appear on the record____”

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