Commonwealth v. Vargas’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

36 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 37 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It is our statutory duty 'to consider broadly the whole case on the law and the facts to determine whether the verdict is consonant with justice.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Barnett · Commonwealth v. Salazar

2. “as a whole, looking for the interpretation a reasonable juror would place on the judge's words,”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Harris · Commonwealth v. Odgren

3. “The defendant has not proffered any substantive grounds on which the closure of the court room during [the rape shield hearing] would have resulted in any effect on the judgment in the case, and therefore failed to show prejudice arising from counsel's failure to object.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1109 - Commonwealth v. Pease