347 Pa. Super. 640 - Commonwealth v. Wildermuth’s Empirical Analysis
1985
Citation profile
19 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 19 later decisions — most recently September 2000
19 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 Rhodes v. Chapman · Commonwealth v. Wright · Commonwealth v. Mikulan · Tosto v. Pennsylvania Nursing Home Loan Agency · Snider v. Thornburgh
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.
“(a) Mandatory sentence. — A person convicted of the following offenses when the victim is under 16 years of age shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment as follows: 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702(a)(1) and (4) (relating to aggravated assault) — not less than two years. 18 Pa.C.S. § 3121 (relating to rape) — not less than five years. 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse) — not less than five years.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“(a) Mandatory sentence. — Any person who is convicted in any court of this Commonwealth of murder of the third degree, voluntary manslaughter, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, robbery as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3701(a)(l)(i), (ii), or (iii) (relating to robbery), aggravated assault as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702(a)(1) (relating to aggravated assault) or kidnapping, or who is convicted of attempt to commit any of these crimes, shall, if the person visibly possessed a firearm during the commission of the offense, be sentenced to a minimum sentence of at least five years of total confinement notwithstanding any other provision of this title or other statute to the contrary. (b) Proof at sentencing. — Provisions of this section shall not be an element of the crime and notice thereof to the defendant shall not be required prior to conviction, but reasonable notice of the Commonwealth’s intention to proceed under this section shall be provided after conviction and before sentencing. The applicability of this section shall be determined at sentencing. The court shall consider any evidence presented at trial and shall afford the Commonwealth and the defendant an opportunity to present any necessary additional evidence and shall determine, by a preponderance of the evidence, if this section is applicable. (c) Authority of court in sentencing. — There shall be no authority in any court to impose on an offender to which this section is applicable any lesser sentence than p”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“Insofar as 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9718 is concerned, we do not conclude that the imposition of a mandatory five year minimum prison term is cruel or unusual. The crimes in question here, rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, committed against a minor, are crimes of great severity and the legislature in enacting this statute expressed its grave concern for the protection of minors. Specifically, this act is designed to punish those criminals who prey on the helpless children in our society. Clearly, the nature and severity of the crimes justify the legislature’s rationally based minimum sentence. In the analysis of the sentences effect on individual dignity, we also find no constitutional infirmity. As the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Rhoads [Rhoades] v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 348 ,101 Superior [sic] Ct. 2392 [2400], 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981), “to the extent that such conditions of confinement are restrictive and even harsh, they are part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society.” Defendant’s assertion that Pennsylvania has “no prison facility specially [sic] to meet the needs of the aged and infirm,” does not prove that incarceration per se would be cruel and unusual punishment. Certainly, if the defendant required medical treatment it would be available to him, but to conclude that any prison term violates the 8th Amendment is without foundation____”
1 later decision 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.