Commonwealth v. Linton’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 56 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 58 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “need only be reasonable and possible and need not be necessary or inescapable.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Fernandes · Commonwealth v. Combs

2. “"(1) whether the defendant was indifferent to or took pleasure in the victim's suffering; (2) the consciousness and degree of suffering of the victim; (3) the extent of the victim's physical injuries; (4) the number of blows inflicted on the victim; (5) the manner and force with which the blows were delivered; (6) the nature of the weapon, instrument, or method used in the killing; and (7) the disproportion between the means needed to cause death and those employed."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Linton v. Saba · Commonwealth v. Robinson

3. “preferable that the limiting instruction be given the same day as the testimony at issue.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Bryant · Commonwealth v. Tiscione