Commonwealth v. Simmon’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The Commonwealth’s assertion that Hood was the victim of the assault and therefore her probationary status was not endangered merely states a conclusion. Such inverted logic denies the reality of the vulnerable status of a probationer. The threat of revocation, no matter how subtle, based on a violation of a probation condition (i.e. not engaging in assaultive behavior) always can be used by the prosecution to ensure cooperation. Indeed, it might precede the prosecutor’s involvement by providing the motivation for the complainant to report that she had been assaulted. Were Hood the aggressor and Simmon the victim, assuming she were on probation, it would benefit Hood to report her wound as though she were the victim, thus deflecting any inquiry that might jeopardize her probation.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Walker · 440 Pa. Super. 305 - Commonwealth v. Buksa

2. “[Wjhenever a prosecution witness may be biased in favor of the prosecution because of outstanding criminal charges or because of any non-final disposition against him within the same jurisdiction, that possible bias, in fairness, must be made known to the jury____ [T]he witness may hope for favorable treatment from the prosecutor if the witness presently testifies in a way that is helpful to the prosecution. And if that possibility exists, the jury should know about it____ [T]he defendant, under the right guaranteed in the Pennsylvania Constitution to confront witnesses against him, must have the opportunity at least to raise a doubt in the mind of the jury as to whether the prosecution witness is biased. It is not for the court to determine whether the cross-examination for bias would affect the jury’s determination of the case____ Thus ... the right guaranteed by Art. I Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to confront witnesses against a defendant in a criminal case entails that a criminal defendant must be permitted to challenge a witness’ self-interest by questioning him about possible or actual favored treatment by the prosecuting authority in the case at bar, or in any other non-final matter involving the same prosecuting authority.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 394 Pa. Super. 100 - Commonwealth v. Ocasio

3. “[T]he jurors were entitled to have the benefit of the defense theory before them in order that they could make an informed judgment as to the weight to place on the complainant’s testimony as opposed to the appellant’s testimony.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 413 Pa. Super. 538 - Commonwealth v. Eck