Commonwealth v. Edwards’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

36 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 37 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The most sensible of the various judicial approaches is to allow the defendant to decide whether the instruction should be given in any particular case. The desirability of the instruction is a matter of trial strategy, and 'will therefore vary from case to case. The purpose of the instruction is to prevent the jury from considering the defendant’s silence as evidence of guilt, and the defendant himself will normally be in the best position to decide whether or not the giving of the instruction will serve this end.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Rasheed · Commonwealth v. Garcia

2. “We are mindful that, for strategical reasons, a defendant and his or her counsel may determine that defendant’s right to remain silent under Article I, Section 9 is best served by requesting that a “no-adverse-inference” charge not be given to the jury; in order to avoid drawing attention to defendant’s failure to testify. The “fundamental” right at stake here is the right not to be “compelled to give evidence against [oneself]” from which the “no-adverse-inference” rule derives. Thus, if defendant and his or her counsel determine that the fundamental right to remain silent is best served by not drawing attention to defendant’s silence, the derivative right (i.e., the “no-adverse-inference” instruction), may be validly waived. In such cases, an explicit waiver by defendant is required. Although a defendant is free to make the choice whether to request, or waive, a “no-adverse-inference” charge prior to the trial judge instructing the jury, a defendant’s change of heart after the jury has been charged will not be effective. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Danzy, 225 Pa.Super. 234 , 310 A.2d 291 (1973) (attempt to waive “no-adverse-inference” charge after the jury has been instructed is ineffectual). [emphasis original]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Thompson

3. “This Court has stated that an error may be harmless where the properly admitted evidence of guilt is so overwhelming and the prejudicial effect of the error is so insignificant by comparison that it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the error could not have contributed to the verdict. Under this approach, a reviewing court first determines whether the untainted evidence, considered independently of the tainted evidence, overwhelmingly establishes the defendant’s guilt. If “honest, fair minded jurors might very well have brought in not guilty verdicts,” an error cannot be harmless on the basis of overwhelming evidence. Once the court determines that the evidence of guilt is overwhelming, it then decides if the error was so insignificant by comparison that it could not have contributed to the verdict. We have cautioned that: “a conclusion that the properly admitted evidence is ‘so overwhelming’ and the prejudicial effect of the----error is ‘so insignificant’ by comparison, that it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the error is harmless, is not to be arrived at lightly.” Accordingly, we have been reluctant to find an error harmless on the basis of overwhelming evidence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Rasheed