Commonwealth v. O'Leary’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"A failure to give a copy of the citation to the violator at the time and place of the violation shall constitute a defense in any court proceeding for such violation, except where the violator could not have been stopped or where additional time was reasonably necessary to determine the nature of the violation or the identity of the violator, or where the court finds that a circumstance, not inconsistent with the purpose of this section to create a uniform, simplified and non-criminal method for disposing of automobile law violations, justifies the failure."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Somerville Police Dep't v. Chunn · 95 Mass. App. Ct. 610 - Commonwealth v. Werra

2. “Prior to the provision's insertion, a 'police officer who witnessed a traffic offense would record the violation on a citation form and submit it to police headquarters. Within three days from the receipt of the citation, the police chief or a designated officer of at least sergeant grade would decide [how] to proceed' -- for instance, by issuing a written warning or court complaint, or by voiding the citation.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 95 Mass. App. Ct. 610 - Commonwealth v. Werra

3. “[w]here the requirements of the statute are not followed, the complaint shall be dismissed regardless of whether the defendant was prejudiced by the failure.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 95 Mass. App. Ct. 610 - Commonwealth v. Werra