Commonwealth v. Morales’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Relevant factors include, but are not limited to, promises or other inducements, conduct of the defendant, the defendant's age, education, intelligence and emotional stability, experience with and in the criminal justice system, physical and mental condition, the initiator of the discussion of a deal or leniency (whether the defendant or the police), and the details of the interrogation, including the recitation of Miranda warnings”

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

2. “(1) whether the defendant seasonably objected; (2) whether the error was limited to collateral issues or went to the heart of the case; (3) what specific or general instructions the judge gave the jury which may have mitigated the mistake; and (4) whether the error, in the circumstances, possibly made a difference in the jury's conclusions.”

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

3. “Due process requires a separate inquiry into the voluntariness of [a defendant's statement] apart from the validity of the Miranda waiver”

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