Commonwealth v. Cheeks’s Empirical Analysis
1966
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 115 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 121 later decisions — most recently June 2014 · most notably Commonwealth v. Farquharson (1976), Commonwealth v. Paquette (1973)
2 federal appellate · 115 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 Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · Escobedo v. Illinois · Johnson v. State of New Jersey · Davis v. North Carolina · Crooker v. State of California
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 121 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The rule permitting res gestae declarations to be introduced in evidence has been stated in Commonwealth v. Cheeks, 423 Pa. 67 , 223 A.2d 291 (1966): ‘The principle is based upon the rationale that a spontaneous declaration of an individual who has recently suffered an overpowering emotional and shocking experience is likely to be truthful. See, I Henry, Penna. Evidence, § 466 (1953). Such evidence is limited to declarations supporting the conclusion that the statements were spontaneous utterances of thought created by, or emanating from, the litigated act, and so near in time thereto as to exclude the possibility that they were the product of premeditation or design. See, Commonwealth v. Noble, 371 Pa. 138 , 88 A.2d 760 (1952); Commonwealth v. Rumage, 359 Pa. 483 , 59 A.2d 65 (1948); and, Commonwealth v. Cupps, 157 Pa.Super. 341 , 43 A.2d 545 (1945). No definite time limit, or distance from the site of the crime, has been fixed by the courts in determining what spontaneous utterances are admissible as part of the res gestae. Each case has been judged on its own facts and circumstances; Commonwealth v. Stokes, 409 Pa. 268 , 186 A.2d 5 (1962), and cases cited therein. The length of time which has elapsed between when the declarations were uttered and when the occurrence took place is only one element to be considered in determining their spontaneity. See Commonwealth v. Noble, supra, and Commonwealth v. Harris, 351 Pa. 325 , 41 A.2d 688 (1945).’ Id., 423 Pa. at 70 , 223 A.2d ”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage““The principle is based upon the rationale that a spontaneous declaration of an individual who has recently suffered an overpowering and shocking experience is likely to be truthful. (Citation omitted.) Such evidence is limited to declarations supporting the conclusion that the statements were spontaneous utterances of thought created by, or emanating from, the litigated act, and so near in time thereto as to exclude the possibility that they were the product of premeditation or design.””
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.