Irwin v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The class of persons eligible to obtain relief under this chapter shall be limited to the following: .. . those who have been granted judicial relief by a state court of competent jurisdiction, on grounds which tend to establish the innocence of the individual as set forth in clause (vi) of subsection (C),[ 4 ] and if (a) the judicial relief vacates or reverses the judgment of a felony conviction, and the felony indictment or complaint used to charge the individual with such felony has been dismissed . . . and (b) at the time of the filing of an action under this chapter no criminal proceeding is pending or can be brought against the individual by a district attorney or the attorney general for any act associated with such felony conviction.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Renaud v. Commonwealth

2. “left it to the States to determine under their own rules of evidence when pre-arrest silence is so inconsistent with a defendant's testimony that impeachment by reference to that silence is probative.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Gardner

3. “who have been granted judicial relief by a state court of competent jurisdiction, on grounds which tend to establish the innocence of the individual.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 88 Mass. App. Ct. 553 - Santana v. Commonwealth