6 canonical passages across 4 cases, quoted by 65 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, Aplt. v. Carrasquillo, J..
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commonwealth, Aplt. v. Carrasquillo, J. Anchor | green | “a bare assertion of innocence is not, in and of itself, a sufficient reason to require a court to grant” | 21 |
| 2 | Commonwealth v. Norton, M., Aplt. | green | “when a trial court comes to a conclusion through the exercise of its discretion, there is a heavy burden on the appellant to show that this discretion has been abused.” | 12 |
| 3 | Commonwealth v. Islas | green | “both the timing and the nature of the innocence claim, along with the relationship of that claim to the strength of the government's evidence, are relevant.” | 11 |
| 4 | Commonwealth v. Islas | green | “after the attorney for the commonwealth has had an opportunity to respond, a request to withdraw a plea made before sentencing should be liberally allowed.” | 8 |
| 5 | Commonwealth v. Norton, M., Aplt. | green | “an abuse of discretion will not be found based on a mere error of judgment, but rather exists where the trial court has reached a conclusion which overrides or misapplies the law, or where the judgment exercised is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice,…” | 7 |
| 6 | Commonwealth v. Elia | green | “in determining whether to grant a presentence motion for withdrawal of a guilty plea, the test to be applied by the trial courts is fairness and justice.” | 6 |
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.