Reed v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 23 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In this case, however, there was other evidence from which the jury might have concluded that appellant was guilty of the lesser offense of sexual abuse in the second degree. In addition to testifying for the Commonwealth during its case in chief, Mr. Barrett was called by the defense to give additional testimony. He repeated that B.R.C. had given a statement to her social worker as well as the city police that her uncle had ‘sexually abused’ her. He also read from another report made by the social worker in which he said she made ‘allegations of two incidents of sexual molestation by her uncle who was living in the home.’ When asked whether the social worker’s use of the terms ‘sexual abuse’ and ‘sexual molestation’ would include intercourse, Mr. Barrett said: Social workers primarily use sexual molestation in speaking of fondling of genital areas. Normally we would not use sexual molestation to include sexual intercourse. When asked what term would be used, he said: Sexual intercourse depending upon what actually in fact happened. However, the more severe the sexual interaction the more specifically the field worker would describe the terms.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bagby v. Sowders

2. “Our law requires the Court to give instructions “applicable to every state of case covered by the indictment and deducible from or supported to any extent by the testimony.” Lee v. Commonwealth, Ky., 329 S,W.2d 57, 60 (1959). It is irrelevant that the evidence from the parties does not indicate the need for a particular instruction. The determination of what issues to submit to the jury should be made based upon the totality of the evidence. Rice v. Commonwealth, Ky., 472 S.W.2d 512 (1971). And, as we said in Trimble v. Commonwealth, Ky., 447 S.W.2d 348, 350 (1969): When the prosecution adduces evidence warranting an inference of a finding of a lesser degree of the charged offense, the court should instruct on the lesser degree even though the defendant presents the defense of alibi. See also Harris v. Commonwealth, Ky., 389 S.W.2d 907 (1965), and Martin v. Commonwealth, Ky., 571 S.W.2d 613 (1978).”

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

3. “[A]ppellant has failed to demonstrate actual prejudice. He has generally asserted that the delay prevented the discovery of alibi witnesses, but has shown nothing more. The mere possibility that some evidence which was unavailable at trial would have been available at an earlier time is insufficient. Appellant was accused of having raped B.R.C. five times within a period of approximately two hundred days. Not a single date was identified as a date upon which any one of the crimes occurred. For alibi testimony to have significantly aided appellant’s defense, witnesses would have been necessary to account for his whereabouts at all or substantially all times during this period. The possibility that any person could produce such evidence is remote.”

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