Commonwealth v. Vanskiver’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Our Supreme Court addressed this issue, as a matter of first impression, in the plurality opinion of Commonwealth v. Chiappini, 566 Pa. 507 , 782 A.2d 490 (2001). A plurality of the Supreme Court concluded that the defendant in Chiappini was entitled to credit for time served under the Lackawanna County Home Confinement/Electronic Monitoring Program because the restrictions of the program, as employed in that particular case, constituted “custody” for purposes of section 9760(1). See id. at 499 n. 10. Recognizing that the Sentencing Code does not provide a definition of “custody,” the Court turned to the Statutory Construction Act, 1 Pa.C.S. § 1903(a), and relied on common and approved usage of the term “custody.” Id. at 498. The Court concluded that custody includes forms of restraint other than imprisonment. Id. at 500-501. Al though “imprisonment” is one form of “custody,” custody is a much broader term. Id. at 500. Since the legislature chose the term “custody,” rather than the term “imprisonment,” when drafting section 9760, the Court rejected the Commonwealth’s argument that forms of restraint other than imprisonment cannot be counted for credit under section 9760. Id. The Court stated[:] [i]n determining whether a person has spent time in custody it is necessary to examine the extent of control exercised by those in authority. The type of technology employed in this case has made it possible for prison authorities to restrain and severely limit a person’s freedom by li”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2004 Pa. Super. 379 - Commonwealth v. Pettus · 2005 Pa. Super. 55 - Commonwealth v. Druce

2. “(1) Credit against the maximum term and any minimum term shall be given to the defendant for all time spent in custody as a result of the criminal charge for which a prison sentence is imposed or as a result of the conduct on which such a charge is based. Credit shall include credit for time spent in custody prior to trial, during trial, pending sentence, and pending the resolution of an appeal.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2004 Pa. Super. 244 - Commonwealth v. Frye · 2005 Pa. Super. 55 - Commonwealth v. Druce