333 Pa. Super. 155 - Commonwealth v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis
1984
Citation profile
25 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 27 later decisions — most recently July 2008 · most notably 575 So. 2d 16 - MacKbee v. State (1990), 437 Pa. Super. 258 - Commonwealth v. Berryman (1994)
25 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 263 Pa. Super. 206 - Commonwealth v. Madison · Commonwealth v. Glover · 299 Pa. Super. 463 - Habecker v. Nationwide Insurance · Commonwealth v. Teada · 292 Pa. Super. 293 - Crusco v. Insurance Co. of North America
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 27 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“When a criminal statute is susceptible of two constructions, both reasonable, it is not the construction that is supported by the greater reason that is to prevail but the one that operates in favor of the defendant’s liberty, and if there is doubt, the defendant must be given the benefit of the doubt.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“[T]he Crimes Code states that its provisions `shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms but when the language is susceptible of differing constructions it shall be interpreted to further the general purpose of [the Crimes Code] and the special purposes of the particular provision involved.' 18 Pa.C.S. § 105. One general purpose of the Crimes Code is to differentiate on reasonable grounds between serious and minor offenses. 18 Pa.C.S. § 103(5). Construing the phrase `force however slight' to exclude a taking by stealth alone is consistent with this purpose because a taking by stealth alone is not as likely to result in injury to the victim as a taking by `force'; for `however slight' the force may be, the victim may be prompted by it to resist, and injury may ensue. In recognition of this possibility, § 3701(a)(1)(v) has as its special purpose that greater punishment should be inflicted on those who use `force however slight' than on those who by resort to stealth void the use of force.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“[t]he elements of robbery as defined by § 3701(a)(1)(v) are (1) that the defendant physically take or remove property, (2) from the person of another, (3) by use of force however slight. Here, as appellant concedes, the first two elements were proved. However, with respect to the third element, the only `use of force' that was proved was that appellant used just so much force as was necessary to `physically take or remove' (first element) the pack of cigarettes `from the person of' Mr. Walker (second element). The conclusion follows that the third element was not proved, and that the evidence was therefore insufficient.”
2 later decisions 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.