Commonwealth v. Johnson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Lord does not call for the appellate courts of this Commonwealth to ignore the long line of cases that dictate how appellate courts are to address the merits of an issue that has been waived where such waiver is due to the alleged ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. These types of claims historically are reviewable by the Superior Court, notwithstanding their absence from the 1925(b) Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2003 Pa. Super. 234 - Commonwealth v. Beltz

2. “The absence of a trial court opinion poses a substantial impediment to meaningful and effective appellate review. Rule 1925 is intended to aid trial judges in identifying and focusing upon those issues that the parties plan to raise on appeal. Rule 1925 is thus a crucial component of the appellate process.”

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