Clifford v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 1 district · 9 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “permits a lay witness to resort to a conclusion or an opinion to describe an observed phenomenon where there exists no other feasible alternative by which to communicate that observation to the trier of fact.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Adams v. Commonwealth · Davidson v. Commonwealth

2. “Accent is a branch of phonetics, which in turn, is a division of linguistics. While some writers use accent and dialect interchangeably, accent relates to how words are pronounced whereas dialect involves not only accent but particular speech patterns of a group or region. It is clear that lay witnesses can often detect the distinctive accent related to particular ethnic or geographic groups. Thus, a lay witness depending upon his experience, could distinguish between a Yiddish accent and an Italian accent, or between a Russian and an English accent, or between a Spanish and French accent. In addition, within broad categories, certain more specific accents, characteristic of a particular region, may be ascertained. For example, the lay witness may be able to reliably identify the “Brooklyn” accent, as distinguished from the “Boston” accent, or the “Southern” accent from the “Cockney” accent. Human experience has taught us to discern the variations in the mode of speech of different individuals. “Individual speech patterns”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 86 F. Supp. 2d 1115 - United States v. Card

3. “The adoption of KRE 701 in this Commonwealth signaled this Court’s intention to follow the modern trend clearly favoring the admission of such lay opinion evidence. KRE 701 reflects the philosophy of this Court, and most courts in this country, to view KRE 701 as more inclusionary than exclusionary when the lay witness’s opinion is rationally based on the perception of the witness and is helpful to the jury or trial court for a clear understanding of the witness’s testimony or the determination of a factual issue.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hampton v. Commonwealth