9 canonical passages across 8 cases, quoted by 271 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 Com. v. Hopkins, G..
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Com. v. Hopkins, G. Anchor | green | “counsel is presumed to have rendered effective assistance.” | 69 |
| 2 | Commonwealth v. Beatty | green | “our standard of review of the denial of a pcra petition is limited to examining whether the evidence of record supports the court's determination and whether its decision is free of legal error.” | 54 |
| 3 | Commonwealth v. Kelley | green | “once this threshold is met we apply the 'reasonable basis' test to determine whether counsel's chosen course was designed to effectuate his client's interests.” | 39 |
| 4 | Commonwealth v. Smith | green | “the threshold inquiry in ineffectiveness claims is whether the issue/argument/tactic which counsel has foregone and which forms the basis for the assertion of ineffectiveness is of arguable merit.” | 29 |
| 5 | Commonwealth v. Spotz | green | “to demonstrate prejudice, the petitioner must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different. a reasonable probability is a probability that is sufficient to undermine confidence …” | 26 |
| 6 | Commonwealth v. Steele | green | “where it is clear that a petitioner has failed to meet any of the three, distinct prongs of the...test, the claim may be disposed of on that basis alone, without a determination of whether the other two prongs have been met.” | 23 |
| 7 | Commonwealth v. Spotz | green | “a reasonable probability is a probability that is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of the proceeding.” | 14 |
| 8 | Com. v. Howard, M. | green | “we review the court's legal conclusions de novo.” | 10 |
| 9 | Com. v. Turetsky | green | “the petitioner bears the burden of proving all three prongs of the test.” | 7 |
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.