Commonwealth v. Whitaker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “whether the evidence offered by the Commonwealth, together with reasonable inferences therefrom, * when viewed in its light most favorable to the Commonwealth, was sufficient to persuade a rational jury beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of every element of the crime charged.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Copeland · Commonwealth v. Barry

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."”

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

3. “Deliberate premeditation may be inferred from the nature and extent of a victim's injuries, the duration of the attack, the number of blows, and the use of various weapons”

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