6 canonical passages across 4 cases, quoted by 25 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side — they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from Commonwealth v. Nelson.
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commonwealth v. Nelson Anchor | green | “the infliction of a considerable amount of pain and suffering on a victim which is unnecessarily heinous, atrocious, or cruel manifesting exceptional depravity.” | 5 |
| 2 | Commonwealth v. Freeman | green | “consistently found permissible similar statements asking the jury to show the defendant the same mercy that he showed his victim.” | 4 |
| 3 | Commonwealth v. Nelson | green | “implicit in subsection 8 torture aggravator is the requirement of an intent to cause pain and suffering in addition to the intent to kill.” | 4 |
| 4 | Commonwealth v. Stevens | green | “in order to channel the sentencer's discretion by clear and objective standards that provide specific and detailed guidance that make the process for imposing a sentence of death rationally reviewable” | 4 |
| 5 | Commonwealth v. Rega | green | “defendant committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony,” | 4 |
| 6 | Commonwealth v. Rega | green | “killing was committed in the perpetration of a felony.” | 4 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment — for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.