Commonwealth v. Lyons’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

32 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 33 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A motion for a new trial based on a claim that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence is addressed to the discretion of the trial court. A new trial should not be granted because of a mere conflict in the testimony or because the judge on the same facts would have arrived at a different conclusion. Rather, “the role of the trial judge is to determine that ‘notwithstanding all the facts, certain facts are so clearly of greater weight that to ignore them or to give them equal weight with all the facts is to deny justice.’ ” It has often been stated that “a new trial should be awarded when the jury’s verdict is so contrary to the evidence as to shock one’s sense of justice and the award of a new trial is imperative so that right may be given another opportunity to prevail.” An appellate court’s standard of review when presented with a weight of the evidence claim is distinct from the standard of review applied by the trial court: Appellate review of a weight claim is a review of the exercise of discretion, not of the underlying question of whether the verdict is against the weight of the evidence. Because the trial judge has had the opportunity to hear and see the evidence presented, an appellate court will give the gravest consideration to the findings and reasons advanced by the trial judge when reviewing a trial court’s determination that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence. One of the least assailable reasons for granting or denying a new trial is th”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2016 Pa. Super. 291 - Commonwealth v. Diaz · 2014 Pa. Super. 44 - Commonwealth v. Orie

2. “The probable cause affidavit ... set forth the facts regarding the time and place of the fire, the death of [Talley] and R.R. and the stab wounds observed on the bodies. The affidavit also set forth facts regarding [Johnson’s] connection with those events. [Johnson] admitted that he was in the apartment with the victims [on] the day of the fire. Within minutes of the fire being detected, [Johnson] fled the scene in a Cadillac at a high rate of speed, striking a parked car in the process. Within four hours of the fire, [Johnson] was stopped driving the Cadillac. At that time, the Cadillac displayed a license plate that did not belong to the vehicle. Just hours after the murders, police observed a cut on [Johnson’s] hand. When he was questioned by the police as to his whereabouts at the time of the murders, [Johnson] gave conflicting accounts. [Johnson’s] presence at the scene both before and after the fire started, his hasty flight from the scene in the apartment owner’s car, his inconsistent statements to police and the injury to his hand provided sufficient circumstances, when viewed in a practical, common sense and realistic fashion, for the issuing authority to conclude that there was a fair probability that evidence of a crime would be found on [Johnson’s] person. The motion to suppress ... for failure to set forth probable cause was, therefore, properly denied.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Johnson, M., Aplt.

3. “As a general rule, because of the inherently coercive nature of police custodial interrogation, statements elicited from an accused in that environment are inadmissible unless the accused was informed of and, inter alia , voluntarily waived his privilege against self-incrimination and the right to counsel. Waiver is made voluntarily if the decision to make it is the product of a free and unconstrained choice. In determining whether a waiver is valid, a suppression court looks to the totality of the circumstances surrounding the waiver, including but not limited to the declarant's physical and psychological state, the attitude exhibited by the police during the interrogation, and any other factors which may serve to drain one's powers of resistance to suggestion and coercion.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Clemons, J., Aplt.