Commonwealth v. Laird’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

55 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 60 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The trial court is allowed considerable discretion in phrasing instructions as long as they adequately convey the law. In fact, Pennsylvania Standard Criminal Jury Instruction 15.2502F(1) describes aggravating and mitigating circumstances as “things that make a first-degree murder case either more terrible or else less terrible.” Additionally, we have rejected the claim Appellant now advances, declining to find that the trial court instructions as a whole, interfered with the jury’s evaluation of the specific mitigation evidence presented by Appellant or their assessment of his personal moral culpability. These instructions merely expressed to the jury, in laymen’s terms, the purpose for the distinction between aggravating and mitigating circumstances in a capital penalty phase.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Laird · Commonwealth v. Laird

2. “on both direct and cross examination, Dr. Dee described in significant detail the information and reasoning that formed the basis for his conclusions regarding Appellant. Considering all of these circumstances, as we must, we do not believe that the prosecutor’s single reference to the Florida case, which was subject to an immediate curative instruction, had the “unavoidable effect” of prejudicing the jurors against him and preventing them from rendering a fair and impartial verdict.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Laird · Commonwealth v. Laird

3. “Dr. Dee has been received as an expert in this case. I gave you instructions earlier in the trial regarding expert testimony but I will later give you instructions regarding the manner in which you are to evaluate his testimony. The sole issue before you today is what the penalty should be for this defendant, and you are only to consider the evidence presented in this case and the law as I give it to you.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Laird · Commonwealth v. Laird