Commonwealth v. Walker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 57 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 64 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We now allow for the possibility that such expert testimony on the limited issue of eyewitness identification as raised in this appeal may be admissible, at the discretion of the trial court, and assuming the expert is qualified, the proffered' testimony relevant, and will assist the trier of fact. Of course, the question of the admission of expert testimony turns not only on the state of the science proffered and its relevance in a particular case, but on whether the testimony will assist the jury. Trial courts will exercise their traditional role in using their discretion to weigh the admissibility of such expert testimony on a case-by-case basis. It will be up to the trial court to determine when such expert testimony is appropriate. If the trial court finds that the testimony satisfies Frye, the inquiry does not end. The admission must be properly tailored to whether the testimony will focus on particular characteristics of the identification at issue and explain how those characteristics call into question the 'reliability of the identification. We find the defendant must make an on-the-record detailed proffer to the court, including an explanation of precisely how the expert’s testimony is relevant to the eyewitness identifications under consideration and how it will assist the jury in its evaluation. The proof should establish the presence of factors (e.g., stress or differences in race, as between the eyewitness and the defendant) which may be shown to impair the accu”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 2017 Pa. Super. 69 - Commonwealth v. Selenski · 2015 Pa. Super. 126 - Commonwealth v. Selenski

2. “[W]e believe an absolute ban on expert testimony in this area is no longer the best approach in determining how to assist the finder of fact where mistaken identification is at issue. Importantly, our decision today is limited to this unique area of the law, where, as noted above, the case law from other jurisdictions and the research is compelling. Thus, we believe that it is time to take the step of joining those jurisdictions which allow the admission of expert testimony on relevant factors concerning eyewitness identification, at the discretion of the trial court, subject to an abuse of discretion appellate standard of review.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 2017 Pa. Super. 69 - Commonwealth v. Selenski