Commonwealth v. Batty’s Empirical Analysis
1978
Citation profile
67 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 67 later decisions — most recently December 2005 · most notably Commonwealth v. Buehl (1986), Commonwealth v. Davis (1980)
67 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Kent v. United States · Commonwealth v. Petrakovich · Commonwealth v. Powell · Commonwealth v. Pyle · Commonwealth v. Green
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 67 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"If . . . [a] photograph is deemed to be inflammatory, the Court must then apply the balancing test . . . i.e., is the photograph of `such essential evidentiary value that its need clearly outweighs the likelihood of inflaming the minds and passions of the jurors.'" [Emphasis, citations, and quotations omitted.]”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““ ‘If this had been a trial before a jury, [appellant’s] argument would be a more compelling one. However our examination of the record of a trial without a jury differs in certain respects from our examination of a jury trial record. [Citation omitted.] In the case of a trial before a jury, we must be mindful that twelve laymen, unlearned in the technicalities of the rules of evidence, can be easily confused or prejudiced by certain evidence admissible as having value for one purpose but not for another. When the [appellant] waives a jury trial, we have a right to expect a more perceptive and judicious application of the rules of evidence by the trial judge, learned in the law. . He, unlike a layman, also knows that improperly admitted evidence must be stricken from consideration.’ ””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“a [trial] judge is sufficiently trained and knowledgeable in the law to realize that he may not allow the potentially inflammatory nature of photographs of a victim’s body to sway his judgment.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.