Commonwealth v. Kee’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Improper vouching occurs if 'an attorney expresses a personal belief in the credibility of a witness, or indicates that he or she has knowledge independent of the evidence before the jury.' " Commonwealth v. Ortega , 441 Mass. 170 , 181 (2004), quoting from Commonwealth v. Wilson , 427 Mass. 336 , 352 (1998). The prosecutor here did neither. By referring to the officers as "trained observers,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 93 Mass. App. Ct. 1106 - Commonwealth v. Peulic

2. “In reviewing the denial of a motion based on the Commonwealth's loss [or destruction] of allegedly exculpatory evidence, we do not disturb the judge's decision absent a clear abuse of discretion.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1115 - Commonwealth v. Engstrom

3. “establish a reasonable possibility, based on concrete evidence rather than a fertile imagination, that access to the [evidence] would have produced evidence favorable to his cause.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1122 - Commonwealth v. Craig