Commonwealth v. Newell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “considerable discretion in framing jury instructions, both in determining the precise phraseology used and the appropriate degree of elaboration.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1113 - Commonwealth v. Shurtleff · 93 Mass. App. Ct. 1109 - Commonwealth v. Rhodes

2. “Under Massachusetts law, appellate courts 'evaluate the charge as a whole, looking for what meaning a reasonable juror could put to the words of the trial judge.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1114 - Commonwealth v. Gardia

3. “the question is whether the jury instructions created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1114 - Commonwealth v. Gardia