Commonwealth v. Darcy’s Empirical Analysis
1949
Citation profile
6 federal appellate · 57 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 71 later decisions (4 by the Supreme Court) — most recently February 2018 · most notably United States Ex Rel. Darcy v. Handy (1956), Commonwealth v. Wable (1955)
6 federal appellate · 57 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 Powell v. State of Alabama Patterson · Snyder v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts · Mattox v. United States · Gaines v. State of Washington · Commonwealth v. Dascalakis
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 71 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It may be logically argued that viewing the scene of the crime is not a part of the trial. A trial implies a contest of opposing parties in the presence of the judge. There is no contest between the parties when a viewing takes place. The trial judge may or may not be present, as he chooses. Yet there cannot be a judicial trial without a trial judge. The attorneys for the respective parties are usually present but they take no active part. Neither can offer or object to, any evidence, or ask any questions. They must remain passive and mute. The prisoner, if present, must do likewise. The situation is analogous to an agreed-to temporary cessation of hostilities between opposing armies on a battlefield. During the cessation the soldiers of the opposing armies make no hostile move. A flag of truce is in the ascendant and is respected. In one sense the period of cessation of conflict may be considered a part of the battle; in another and stricter sense of the word it is not a part of the battle; the battle is temporarily suspended. So in viewing the scene of a crime by the jury the trial is temporarily suspended, for there is no clashing of opposing parties or opposing counsel and no offer of evidence or asking of questions.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“it was not error to point out any part or parts [of the crime scene.] The significance of what the jury saw depended entirely on the sworn testimony which they heard in court. For the trial judge to have permitted any testimony to be received, or any discussion to be indulged in, or any argument to be made during the view , would have been improper.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“the omission to do so is not error where there is no issue raised as to the commission of the felony on which the charge of murder in the first degree is based and where its commission appears incontrovertible from the evidence”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.