Commonwealth v. Ragan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

80 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 82 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(i) the sentence of death was the product of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor; (ii) the evidence fails to support the finding of at least one aggravating circumstance specified in subsection (d); or (iii) the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the circumstances of the crime and the character and record of the defendant.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Collins · Commonwealth v. Weiss

2. “This case arises from an incident which claimed the life of the victim, Darren Brown, on June 26, 1990. At approximately 4:00 p.m. on that date the victim’s brother, Wendell Brown, became involved in an altercation over who should use a basketball court with one William Wingate, a friend of appellant’s, at the Tustin playground in West Philadelphia. The fight, however, was broken up and Wendell left the playground. Wendell later returned to the playground where he encountered appellant, whom he had seen earlier with Wingate. Wendell told appellant to tell Wingate that a basketball game was not worth fighting over. Appellant said, “you’re right” and claimed he would convey the message. Believing his feud with Wingate was now over, Wendell returned to the playground later that evening with Marcus Watson and several other friends. While Wendell Brown was standing in the playground, Wingate and another man approached him from behind and began bludgeoning Mr. Brown with a baseball bat. The two men then retreated up a flight of nearby steps when Darren Brown came to his brother’s aid. Wendell urged Darren that he was all right but Darren responded, “No £_k that, no one £_ks with my brother.” He then pointed a finger at the top of the steps and said, “Let’s go get them.” The two brothers started up the steps in pursuit of Wendell’s assailants, with Darren in the lead. As the two passed appellant who was standing on the steps, Wendell turned and noticed appellant drawing a pistol fro”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Ragan

3. “The often-stated rule in Pennsylvania governing evidence of other crimes is that such evidence is not admissible solely to show a defendant’s bad character or propensity for continuing criminal acts. Commonwealth v. Seiders, 531 Pa. 592 , 614 A.2d 689 (1992). However, not all references which may indicate prior criminal acts warrant reversal. Mere passing references “to prior criminal activity will not require reversal unless the record illustrates definitively that prejudice resulted from the reference.” Commonwealth v. Nichols, 485 Pa. 1, 4 , 400 A.2d 1281, 1282 (1979). In addition, it is also well established that evidence of other crimes may be admitted where there is a legitimate evidentiary purpose for such evidence. Some of the exceptions recognized by this court for the admission of such evidence “include, but are not limited to, 1) motive; 2) intent; ...””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Bracey