Commonwealth v. Parent’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 15 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[I]f defense counsel's promise to prove certain facts created any confusion as to who bore the burden of proof, the confusion would have been cured by the judge's instructions after closing argument that the burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt rested with the Commonwealth.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 93 Mass. App. Ct. 1114 - Commonwealth v. Waite

2. “that if a witness either upon his direct or cross-examination testifies to a fact which is relevant to the issue on trial the adverse party, for the purpose of impeaching his testimony, may show that the witness has made previous inconsistent or conflicting statements.”

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

3. “evidence that her description [of the defendant's actions] changed from one telling to the next is probative of whether her story is true and whether it deserves to be credited beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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