Commonwealth v. O'Connell’s Empirical Analysis
2000
Citation profile
29
cited by 29 later decisions
1
states following
November 2018
most recently cited
29 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Anthony v. United States · Commonwealth v. Tavares · Commonwealth v. Kozec · Commonwealth v. Amirault · Commonwealth v. Clary
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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Although knowledge is an essential element of each crime, ... the Commonwealth need not prove that the defendant knew that the physical characteristics of the firearm he possessed (such as barrel length) rendered it subject to regulation.... Where, as here, the jury could have inferred that the defendant knew a particular firearm was in his possession, his ignorance vis-à -vis that firearm's dimensions is not a valid defense.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“In light of the judge's repeated instructions that the closing arguments do not constitute evidence, any damage to the defendant was sufficiently repaired.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“it does not constitute reversible error in the entire context of this case.”
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.