55 Va. App. 212 - Settle v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “If the General Assembly intended to [make refusal a criminal offense], the 1977 amendment simply could have provided that an unreasonable refusal to submit to [a blood or breath] test is a misdemeanor and not an administrative and civil proceeding. Additionally, such an amendment would have given the right to a jury trial and required proof beyond a reasonable doubt, without the necessity of mentioning them, because both are inherent in criminal prosecutions.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. John Dixon O'Malley v. Commonwealth of Virginia · Commonwealth v. Shafer

2. “It is well established that the “Court of Appeals of Virginia is a court of limited jurisdiction. Unless a statute confers jurisdiction in this Court, we are without power to review an appeal.” Canova Elec. Contracting, Inc. v. LMI Ins. Co., 22 Va.App. 595, 599 , 471 S.E.2d 827, 829 (1996) (citation omitted). “Code § 17.1-406(A) provides that ‘[a]ny aggrieved party may present a petition for appeal to the Court of Appeals from ... any final conviction in a circuit court of ... a crime.’ The statutory language is restrictive, limiting the Court of Appeals’ appellate jurisdiction to appeals from final criminal convictions and from action on motions filed and disposed of while the trial court retains jurisdiction over the case.” Commonwealth v. Southerly, 262 Va. 294, 299 , 551 S.E.2d 650, 653 (2001).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. John Dixon O'Malley v. Commonwealth of Virginia

3. ““[w]hile a decision [of the Virginia Supreme Court] ‘on the merits,’ including a denial of a petition for appeal, may have precedential value, discerning the grounds that formed the basis for denial is indispensable in assessing its potential applicability in future cases.” [Sheets v. Castle, 263 Va. 407 ,] 411-12, 559 S.E.2d [616,] 619 [(2001)]. “However, unless the grounds upon which the refusal is based are discernible from the four corners of the Court’s order, the denial carries no precedential value.” Id. at 412 , 559 S.E.2d at 619 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. John Dixon O'Malley v. Commonwealth of Virginia