Commonwealth v. Kilburn’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 25 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 27 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The doctrine of felony-murder provides that “the conduct which constitutes the felony must be ‘separate from the acts of personal violence which constitute a necessary part of the homicide itself.’ ” Absent this requirement, the assault that precedes every killing would serve as the predicate for felony-murder in the first degree, and the distinction between degrees of murder would be lost. Whether a particular felony is sufficiently independent from a killing to support a felony-murder conviction is a question that defies categorical analysis; we therefore review claims of merger on a “case-by-case basis with reference to specific facts.” In the case of an armed assault in a dwelling, merger occurs when “the acts constituting that assault also cause the homicide.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 383 F. Supp. 2d 247 - Kilburn v. Maloney

2. “Alex Loer, the only witness to the shooting, was visiting Laliberte when an assailant, brandishing a handgun, burst into the apartment, pushing Laliberte away from the doorway. When the gunman noticed Loer he first appeared confused, and then began to order both Loer and Laliberte about the apartment. After approximately one minute of seemingly random directions, the gunman ordered Loer into the bedroom. Five seconds later Loer heard the sound of a gunshot. When Loer looked over his shoulder Laliberte was dead, shot in the back of the head, and the gunman had departed.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 383 F. Supp. 2d 247 - Kilburn v. Maloney

3. “After a short interlude, during which the gunman ordered ... the victim about the apartment, the gunman shot the victim in the back of the head, thus violating [the armed assault in a dwelling statute] a second time.”

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