Commonwealth v. Sylvain’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 38 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 39 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"(1) he had an 'available, substantial ground of defence,' that would have been pursued if he had been correctly advised of the dire immigration consequences attendant to accepting the plea bargain; (2) there is a reasonable probability that a different plea bargain (absent such consequences) could have been negotiated at the time; or (3) the presence of 'special circumstances' that support the conclusion that he placed, or would have placed, particular emphasis on immigration consequences in deciding whether to plead guilty."”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Lys · 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1128 - Commonwealth v. Joacine

2. “(1) there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial,... and (2) that a decision to reject the plea bargain would have been rational under the circumstances.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1116 - Commonwealth v. Damon

3. “is not an adequate substitute for defense counsel's professional obligation to advise [his] client of the likelihood of specific and dire immigration consequences that might arise from such a plea.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1115 - Commonwealth v. Mohammed