Commonwealth v. Gomes’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “determine whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, 'was sufficient to persuade a rational jury beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of every element of the crime[s] charged.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Gallett · Gomes v. Silva

2. “The absence of an on- 8The SJC further noted that "even assuming that the evidence should not have been admitted, the admission would likely not qualify as prejudicial error warranting reversal, given the strength of the evidence that [Gomes] knowingly participated in the Maywood Steet shooting incident with the requisite intent to kill.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gomes v. Silva

3. “[1] there [was] an occurrence or event sufficiently startling to render inoperative the normal reflective thought processes of the observer, and [2] the declarant's statement was a spontaneous reaction to the occurrence or event and not the result of reflective thought.”

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