360 Pa. Super. 180 - Commonwealth v. Ruffo’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The sentence will be outside the guidelines. The Court is obligated to consider the history, character, and condition of the defendant, circumstances of the crime, rehabilitative needs of the defendant, protection for the public, and the gravity of the offense. In this particular case, although the prior involvement with the criminal justice system was ten years, it involved drinking and involuntary manslaughter. The hope is that persons who kill others while drunk will not repeat incidents of drunk driving. The rehabilitative needs of the defendant can best be served by the New Values Therapeutic Treatment Center now available through the state. The history, character and condition of the defendant includes the fact that this particular offense occurred at 6:00 p.m. when people do not anticipate coming in contact with a person having a blood alcohol concentration of .20. .20 indicates a level of tolerance and abuse which predated the specific incident. The public deserves and requires protection, so that the needs for the protection of the public mandate a more severe sentence, and one which can only be accomplished, considering the rehabilitative needs, at the State Correctional Institution with the New Values Therapeutic Session available. [S]o the record reflects, the Court is aware the mandatory sentence which could have been imposed was 48 hours, inasmuch as the previous offense occurred more than seven years prior to this offense. The Court is aware of that at the time”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 372 Pa. Super. 181 - Commonwealth v. Kahley

2. “Without question, [the defendant’s] crime was outrageous. In deciding this appeal as we do today we do not mean to ignore or underestimate either the heinous nature of the crime or its impact on the lives of the victim and her family. Indeed, such factors require that [the defendant] be imprisoned for a substantial period. As grievous as the facts are, however, a sentencing court may not, as this court seemed to do, base its sentence upon the seriousness of the crime alone.... Our difficulty therefore lies in the [sentencing] court’s failure to consider and evaluate, during the sentencing colloquy, the extenuating or mitigating circumstances present in this case. A review of the record demonstrates that, at the time of sentencing, [the defendant] was a young man of twenty-one and, more importantly, that he had had no significant contacts with the criminal justice system. The mental health report indicates that [the defendant] has abused drugs and alcohol from a very young age and that he had been drinking and using drugs on the night of the incident. Additionally, [the defendant] confessed to the crime and subsequently ' pled guilty, thereby saving the victim’s family the pain of hearing the whole story over again. Finally, the presen-tence investigation concludes that this offense was apparently “situational in nature and not indicative of a persistent problem regarding the subject and his involvement with violent assaultive behavior.” On remand, these circumstances as well ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2001 Pa. Super. 196 - Commonwealth v. Ritchey

3. “Imposition of a proper sentence under the Sentencing Code is a matter vested in the sound discretion of the trial court whose determination must be respected unless it is a manifest abuse of discretion. The constraints placed upon the trial court in the exercise of its discretion are that it must not overlook pertinent facts, disregard the force of the evidence, commit an error of law, or inflict punishment exceeding that prescribed by statute. The trial court must thoroughly examine the facts and circumstances of the crime and the background and character of the defendant, and should consult a pre-sentencing report if one has been prepared, especially where, as here, incarceration for one year or more is a possible disposition. Likewise, the court should consider any information in the record bearing on degree of punishment.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 369 Pa. Super. 192 - Commonwealth v. Losch