Commonwealth v. Mutina’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 federal appellate · 1 district · 105 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 123 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““On balance then, we believe it is best to entrust jurors with a knowledge of the consequences of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. If jurors can be entrusted with responsibility for a defendant’s life and liberty in such cases as this, they are entitled to know what protection they and their fellow citizens will have if they conscientiously apply the law to the evidence and arrive at a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity — a verdict which necessarily requires the chilling determination that the defendant is an insane killer not legally responsible for his acts. “The instant case represents a classic example of the injustice which may occur when such information is withheld from the jury. The jury could have had no doubt that the defendant killed Miss Achorn. The jury also heard overwhelmingly persuasive evidence that the defendant was insane at the time of the killing and that, for a long time into the future, he will remain a menace to himself and to society. Foremost in their minds must have been a concern for the safety of the community. “In the absence of an instruction from the trial judge as to the effect of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, the jurors sought to render justice both to the defendant and to society, but theirs was not a true verdict. “Implicit in the jury’s guilty verdict was a determination that the Commonwealth had proven the defendant’s sanity beyond a reasonable doubt. On the record before us, we have found no ration”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 302 Pa. Super. 442 - Commonwealth v. McCann · Commonwealth v. Mulgrew

2. “Jurors, in common with people in general, are aware of the meanings of verdicts of guilty and not guilty. It is common knowledge that a verdict of not guilty means that the prisoner goes free and that a verdict of guilty means that he is subject to such punishment as the court may impose. But a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity has no such commonly understood meaning.... It means neither freedom nor punishment. It means the accused will be confined in a hospital for the mentally ill until the superintendant of such hospital certifies, and the court is satisfied, that such person has recovered his sanity and will not in the reasonable future be dangerous to himself or others.... [T]he jury has a right to know the meaning of this possible verdict as accurately as it knows by common knowledge the meaning of the other two possible verdicts.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 349 Pa. Super. 1 - Commonwealth v. Belmonte · State v. Shickles

3. “The law provides that a jury shall bring in a verdict of not guilty by way of insanity if at the time of the alleged criminal conduct, the defendant was suffering from a mental illness and that he committed the act charged against him as a consequence of such mental illness. That actually comes right from our Code. That is right in the wording of our Code. The Court has put this another way, that the Defendant shall be entitled to a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, if, at the time of the alleged criminal conduct, the Defendant, as a result of mental illness or mental defect, lacked substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Now, the burden is on the Government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt either that the Defendant was not suffering from a mental disease or defect, or else that he, nevertheless, had substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. If the Government has not established this beyond a reasonable doubt, you shall bring in a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. In considering the issue of insanity, you may consider all of the circumstantial evidence just prior to the incident, during the incident and after the incident. You should consider all of the lay testimony, that is, all the non-expert testimony that you had presented to you. You should consider all the evidence that has been admitted as to the Defendant’s mental condition before and after the offense charged, as well as th”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Government of the Virgin Islands v. Fredericks