442 Pa. Super. 258 - Commonwealth v. Cortes’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Prior practice required that to preserve an issue for appeal, the matter must have been raised initially when it occurred either before or during trial, and then be included in the Post-verdict Motion. Failure to include an issue in the Post-verdict Motion resulted in it being waived on appeal and often led to subsequent attacks on the conviction claiming counsel’s ineffectiveness. New [Rule 720] was intended to eliminate this cumbersome process and allow the first appeal to address the issues properly raised before and during trial.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Lord · Commonwealth v. Butler

2. “double waiver.” Admittedly, no statement of matters complained of on appeal was filed. However, that does not prevent us from addressing the issues raised by Appellant.... The lack of the 1925(b) statement does not prevent meaningful appellate review. We see no reason to invite a collateral attack claiming ineffectiveness, which 1410 seeks to eliminate, adding another layer of unnecessary judicial activity and delay. Id. On this basis, we will address appellant’s claim. 5 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 451 Pa. Super. 197 - Commonwealth v. Monroe