Commonwealth v. Vardinski’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 34 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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[w]e consider several factors to determine whether the error was harmless: 'the importance of the witness'[s] testimony in the prosecution's case, whether the testimony was cumulative, the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony of the witness on material points, the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted, and, of course, the overall strength of the prosecution's case.'”

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

2. “Evidentiary rules of exclusion do not abridge an accused's right to present a defense so long as they are not 'arbitrary' or 'disproportionate to the purposes that they are designed to serve'”

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

3. “[I]f a constitutional right has been preserved and there has been no waiver, then it can only be ignored if we are convinced that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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