Fields v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Extreme emotional disturbance is a temporary state of mind so enraged, inflamed, or disturbed as to overcome one’s judgment, and to cause one to act uncontrollably from the impelling force of the extreme emotional disturbance rather than from evil or malicious purposes. It is not a mental disease in itself, and an enraged, inflamed or disturbed emotional state does not constitute an extreme emotional disturbance unless there is a reasonable explanation or excuse therefor; the reasonableness of which is to be determined from the viewpoint of a person in the defendant’s situation under circumstances as [the] defendant believed them to be.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Holland v. Commonwealth · Caudill v. Commonwealth

2. “It is the presence of adequate provocation, not the absence of mental illness, which is essential to a finding of EED. Conversely, the presence of mental illness does not preclude a finding of EED. In fact, such is entirely relevant to a subjective evaluation of the reasonableness of the defendant’s response to the provocation.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Holland v. Commonwealth · Sherroan v. Commonwealth

3. “cumulative impact of a series of related events.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Holland v. Commonwealth · Thomas v. Commonwealth