Commonwealth v. Lynch’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 22 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. “In order to prove the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter the Commonwealth must prove three elements beyond a reasonable doubt: first, that the defendant inflicted an injury upon Andrea Geremia from which she died; second, that the defendant injured Andrea Geremia as a result of a sudden combat or in the heat of passion or using excessive force in self-defense; and third, that the homicide was committed unlawfully, without legal excuse or justification, and was not an accident.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lynch v. Ficco

2. “Even if [the witness] had worn dark glasses of some type, there is no basis on which to conclude that it created a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice. `Face to face' confrontation does not mean `eye to eye,' see Commonwealth v. Kater [ (1991) 409 Mass. 433 ] 567 N.E.2d 885 , [892-893] and wearing dark glasses does not prevent exposure of a witness's face”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 145 Cal. App. 4th 1002 - People v. Brandon

3. “[t]he correct rule is that, where the evidence raises the possibility that the defendant may have acted on reasonable provocation, the Commonwealth must prove, and the jury must find, beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act on reasonable provocation.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lynch v. Ficco