Commonwealth v. MacDonald’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[O]ur courts repeatedly have held that a properly qualified expert witness is permitted to opine based on a hypothetical [even concerning the case's ultimate issue] that is grounded in facts in evidence, as being 'consistent with' a drug transaction”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1113 - Commonwealth v. Corbett

2. “In a case involving a narcotics offense, the Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the substance at issue is a particular drug because such proof is an element of the crime charged.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1107 - Commonwealth v. Santana

3. “must not be conclusory, but must be based on objective criteria as well as on sufficient training or experience.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1107 - Commonwealth v. Santana