343 Pa. Super. 280 - Commonwealth v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The appellant shared an apartment in West Chester County, Pennsylvania with one Gerald Jones. Shortly after midnight,, on April 2, 1978, the appellant and Jones walked from their apartment to a house some four or five blocks distant, the residence of James and Eleanor Latta, and their son Peter. Upon arriving at the Latta house, the defendant cut the wires connecting the Latta telephone to a utility pole, removed a screen from a window on the first floor, and gained access to the interior of the house through the window. During all of this, the Lattas were upstairs asleep. While inside the house, Jones asked the appellant if anyone was home and he replied affirmatively. When Jones asked appellant what would happen if someone came downstairs, appellant replied that he would kill them. In his possession, appellant had a nine-inch hunting knife. From the house, appellant and Jones appropriated a quantity of personal property belonging to the Lattas, left the house with the property, returned to their apartment, and there deposited the property. The appellant and Jones then returned a second time to the Latta house on foot, again gaining access through the same window, and repeated their earlier activities, taking personal property from the house to their apartment. Intending to return to the Latta house for a third time, the appellant awakened one Darrell Hopkins who was then sleeping in appellant’s apartment and the three departed, again entering the Latta house through the win”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 1999 Pa. Super. 91 - Commonwealth v. Williams

2. “(a) Endangering persons. — A person commits a felony of the first degree if he intentionally starts a fire or causes an explosion, whether on his own property or on that of another, and thereby recklessly places another person in danger of death or bodily injury. (b) Endangering property. — A person commits a felony of the second degree if he: 1) starts a fire or causes an explosion with intent of destroying a building or occupied structure of another; 2) intentionally starts a fire or causes an explosion, whether on his own property or on that of another, and thereby recklessly places a building or occupied structure of another in danger of damage or destruction; or 3) starts a fire or causes an explosion with intent of destroying or damaging any property, whether his own or of another, to collect insurance for such loss. (c) Definitions. — As used in this section the term "occupied structure” means any structure, vehicle or place adapted for overnight accommodation of persons or for carrying on business therein, whether or not a person is actually present. Property is that of another, for the purposes of this section, if anyone other than the actor has a possessory or proprietary interest therein. If a building or structure is divided into separately occupied units, any unit not occupied by the actor is an occupied structure of another.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Williams