Commonwealth v. Berry’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 2 district · 74 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 78 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Concerning the specific circumstances on which a lesser included offense instruction is to be given, our cases have stated repeatedly that, ‘[w]hen the evidence permits a finding of a lesser included offense, a judge must, upon request, instruct the jury on the possibility of conviction of the lesser crime’ (emphasis supplied [in Berry ]). Commonwealth v. Woodward, 427 Mass. 659, 662-663 , 694 N.E.2d 1277 (1998), quoting Commonwealth v. Gould, 413 Mass. 707, 715 , 603 N.E.2d 201 (1992). See Commonwealth v. Pitts, [403 Mass.665,] 667 n. 2, 532 N.E.2d 34 [ (1989) ], quoting Commonwealth v. Walden, [ 380 Mass. 724 ,] 726, 405 N.E.2d 939 [ (1980) ] (‘we note that the fact that a defendant denies committing the homicide “does not relieve the judge from giving a manslaughter charge, on request, where the evidence would warrant conviction of that lesser crime” ’). ‘We have never limited this rule to requests made by the defendant, nor have we ever held that the Commonwealth is not entitled, evidence permitting, to such an instruction on request.’ Commonwealth v. Woodward, supra at 663, 694 N.E.2d 1277 . “The present case presents a slightly different factual situation: the judge, concerned that the evidence might warrant a manslaughter instruction, thoughtfully raised the issue sua sponte, despite the fact that neither side requested such an instruction. The Commonwealth then agreed to the instruction,[ 6 ] but the defendant objected. Although Commonwealth v. Roberts, 407 Mass. 731”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 14 So. 3d 898 - Harbin v. State

2. “[W]hen the defendant submits a generally expressed motion for a required finding of not guilty of [an offense that can be based on multiple theories], the case may be submitted to the jury as long as one theory is supported by the evidence”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 93 Mass. App. Ct. 189 - Commonwealth v. O'Neal

3. “The right to self-defense does not arise unless ... the defendant took every opportunity to avoid combat ...”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Ortega