364 Pa. Super. 125 - Commonwealth v. Hawthorne’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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The Majority in Tuladziecki would appear to require the party (be it the Commonwealth or a defendant) appealing the discretionary aspects of a sentence to set forth “at some point” in his brief (preferably, immediately preceding the argument on the merits) reasons (“statement”) why an appeal should be granted. This is consistent with the treatment by the Rules of Appellate Procedure of one’s Notice of Appeal as a “petition for allowance of appeal” under the Sentencing Code (see Note to Pa.R.App.P. 902 and 42 Pa.C.S. § 9781(b)), which, in effect, defers the formal submission of a petition for allowance of appeal until the briefing stage. Tuladziecki, supra. Once at the briefing stage, given Tuladziecki’s view that a “Notice” is the equivalent of a “petition”, we deem it advisable to look to Pa.R.App.P. 1115 for some direction as to the form and content one’s brief should take in perfecting an appeal from the discretionary aspects of a sentence. For example, Pa.R.App.P. 1115 requires that the petitioner list various items of information, one of which is a “concise statement of the reasons relied upon for allowance of an appeal.” Rule 1115(a)(5). The order in which it is to be included in the petition (which, instantly, would be one’s brief) is recommended, insofar as practicable, to be in the sequence which appears in the Rule. This has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as requiring the presentment and examination of such a statement of reasons “at some point” in this proce”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 366 Pa. Super. 597 - Commonwealth v. Darden · Commonwealth v. Bogden

2. “In light of the unequivocal terms in which the Supreme Court views compliance with our Rules of Appellate Procedure, in this area of discretionary appeals (`precise' adherence is to be the benchmark and not the exception), we deem the Commonwealth's failure to provide anywhere in its brief a `concise statement of reasons' for contesting the discretionary aspect of the sentence to be fatal to its appeal. The fact that the defendant did not raise specifically the matter in her brief is overridden by this Court's obligation to assure itself that our rules of court are followed. See e.g., Commonwealth v. Drew, 353 Pa.Super. 632 , 510 A.2d 1244 (1986); Commonwealth v. Stoppie, 337 Pa.Super. 235 , 486 A.2d 994 (1984); Commonwealth v. Jones, 329 Pa.Super. 20 , 477 A.2d 882 (1984); Commonwealth v. Taylor, 306 Pa.Super. 1 , 451 A.2d 1360 (1982). Such policing of an appellant's brief is now re-enforced by the remarks and ruling of the Court in Tuladziecki, supra.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 366 Pa. Super. 78 - Commonwealth v. Zeitlen