Canavan's Case’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 district · 122 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 134 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “There is no logical reason why conclusions based on personal observations or clinical experience should not be subject to the Lanigan analysis. “That a person qualifies as an expert does not endow his testimony with magic qualities.” Boston Gas Co. v. Assessors of Boston, 334 Mass. 549, 579 (1956). Observation informed by experience is but one scientific technique that is no less susceptible to Lanigan analysis than other types of scientific methodology. The gatekeeping function pursuant to Lanigan is the same regardless of the nature of the methodology used: to determine whether “the process or theory underlying a scientific expert’s opinion lacks reliability [such] that [the] opinion should not reach the trier of fact.” Commonwealth v. Lanigan, 419 Mass. 15, 26 (1994).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 195 - Commonwealth v. Reese

2. ““In reality, the validity of a scientific theory is not always certain. The process of constant scientific testing, over time, validates certain theories and discredits others. A decision by an appellate court that as a matter of law a certain scientific theory or method is reliable or unreliable may freeze perceptions concerning the evidentiary usefulness of the theory or method without accounting for the evolving state of scientific knowledge.” Canavan’s Case, supra at 311 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Wolovick's Case

3. “applying an abuse of discretion standard on appellate review will allow trial judges the needed discretion to conduct the inherently fact-intensive and flexible ... analysis”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dist. Attorney for the N. Dist. v. Superior Court Dep't