Commonwealth v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis
1986
Citation profile
3 federal appellate · 70 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 81 later decisions — most recently January 2019 · most notably Commonwealth v. Hughes (1989), Commonwealth v. DeHart (1986)
3 federal appellate · 70 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 Wainwright v. Witt · Lockhart v. McCree · Local 408, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. National Labor Relations Board · Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Weintraub · Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer
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 81 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It is established that counsel may cross-examine his own witness on a plea of surprise when the witness has given testimony which was unexpected, contradictory to statements which the witness had made earlier, and harmful to the party calling the witness and beneficial to the opposing side.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The only issue is whether the area is adequately, accurately and clearly presented to the jury for their consideration.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[a]n opinion regarding the size of the projectile which would be expected to have caused the wounds that the witness had observed and described was particularly within the witness' expertise, because knowledge of traumatic injuries and the forces required to produce them were requisite to rendering such an opinion. Familiarity with the effects of bullets upon the human anatomy was, of necessity, an integral part of the experienced Chief Deputy Medical Examiner's knowledge. Thus, we do not agree with appellant's contention that a ballistics expert, rather than a forensic pathologist, should have been utilized as the source of opinion testimony regarding the nature of the projectile that caused the wound. This is in keeping with prior decisions of this Court which have held admissible the testimony of expert medical witnesses, who, although not specifically qualified as ballistics experts, have, based upon an examination of a gunshot wound, formed an opinion as to certain ballistics aspects of the cause of the wound. Commonwealth v. Gonzales, 463 Pa. 597, 602-603 , 345 A.2d 691, 694 (1975)(medical doctor/coroner permitted to give opinion regarding distance from which shot was fired); Commonwealth v. Santos, 275 Pa. 515, 526-527 , 119 A. 596 (1923)(examining physician permitted to give opinion as to direction and distance of shot, as well as the position of the parties).”
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.