Commonwealth v. Gray’s Empirical Analysis
1970
Citation profile
60 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 60 later decisions — most recently October 2004 · most notably Commonwealth v. Zapata (1972), Commonwealth v. Blevins (1973)
60 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Commonwealth v. Kravitz · Commonwealth v. Carter · Commonwealth v. Johnston · Commonwealth v. Commander · Commonwealth v. Quaranta
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 60 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[AJppellant’s testimony as to the victim’s death, if believed, would establish that someone else stabbed the victim. The Commonwealth’s evidence, if believed, shows a homicide committed by Gray. The issues of self-defense or defense of another were not injected into this case at trial by either the Commonwealth or the appellant. That being so, the failure to charge upon the subject was not error. 421 Pa. at 574, 220 A.2d at 809. An analogous result was reached by the Superior Court as to the privilege to eject trespassers when that right was not relied on by the accused. Commonwealth v. Zubik, 194 Pa.Super.Ct. 248 , 166 A.2d 666 (1960). There is no reason in this particular situation to distinguish the doctrines of self-defense and defense of another from those of homicide by misadventure and the privilege to eject trespassers when the accused does not avail himself of these defenses. “Where the defense is that the accused did not kill or participate in the homicide, instruc tion on self-defense in not necessary.” 41 C.J.S. Homicide § 379 n. 16 (1944) 2”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“. . . accepting all of the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom, upon which, if believed, it would be nonetheless insufficient in law to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellee is guilty of the crime charged.”
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.