Commonwealth v. Santos’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

21 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 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"If you find that the Commonwealth has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant used more force than was reasonably necessary under the circumstances, then the defense of self-defense is not available to the defendant, and you may not acquit him on the basis of such a defense. "You may convict the defendant of either first or second degree murder if the Commonwealth has proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt, in addition to all the other elements of either first or second degree murder, that there were no mitigating circumstances, including but not limited to the excessive use of force in self-defense."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Deconinck

2. “The jury cannot reach the question of excessive force in self-defense unless they decide that the defendant has exercised his right of self-defense in the first place”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Grassie

3. “A person using a dangerous weapon [or deadly force] in self-defense must also have actually believed that he was in imminent danger of serious harm or death”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Grassie