Commonwealth v. Gaddy’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

89 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 89 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““only in rebuttal and then only for the purpose of showing that that which the witness now testifies to has not been recently fabricated and not for the purpose of proving the truth of the present testimony.” Commonwealth v. Wilson, supra 394 Pa. at 603 , 148 A.2d at 242 .”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Hutchinson · Commonwealth v. Swint

2. “"While informing the jury that in his opinion no facts existed to support a verdict of voluntary manslaughter, the trial court fully informed the jury of its ability to return such a verdict; specifically told them that only their recollection of the facts controlled; and stated that they were the sole finders of facts. Such a circumscribed statement cannot be said to have impermissibly infringed upon the jury's function. See American Bar Association Standards Relating to Trial by Jury, § 4.7 (Approved Draft, 1968)."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Jones · 349 Pa. Super. 303 - Commonwealth v. Rivera

3. “that in late December, 1971, he and the appellant were first approached by one Nathaniel Odom with the idea of robbing Martin Dobkin’s store, the Green Front Market. Barnes stated that while he himself expressed some reluctance to go along, [appellant] immediately agreed to the proposal. Nothing came of the plan, however, until January 7,1972, when [appellant] and Odom finally persuaded Barnes to accompany them on their misadventure. That day they met at Odom’s house; Odom produced a loaded .32 caliber revolver which he indicated to the others he was taking with him on the robbery. At about 5:00 p. m., Odom, Barnes and [appellant] left the house and went to a bar across the street from Martin Dobkin’s market. Through a window in the bar door they were able to observe the comings and goings of persons to and from the store. At approximately 6:00 p. m., satisfied that no shoppers remained in the store, the three men moved across the street and entered the store. Inside the storeroom, [appellant] and Barnes placed themselves near the checkout counter, where Dobkin was standing, while Odom moved throughout the store removing various items from the shelves. Odom then came to the counter with his “purchases” and began fumbling in his pockets as though looking for money. Instead of money, however, he withdrew the revolver from his pocket and fired two shots at Dobkin, who fell to the floor clutching his stomach. Odom then leaned over the counter and fired two more shots. Dobkin subs”

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