Commonwealth v. Fowlin

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that “a person who unintentionally injures a third[-]party bystander while using justifiable force in self-defense” is not criminally liable
• finding that “a claim of self-defense, if believed, negates any element of recklessness,” and applying this finding to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment
• bystander struck while defendant was acting under reasonable belief that self-defense was necessary
• bystander struck while defendant was acting under reasonable belief that self-defense was necessary
• extending privilege to reckless acts even when innocent bystander harmed
• following Commonwealth v. Hilbert, 382 A.2d 724 (Pa. 1978)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

12 cases in this archive cite this case.

• Commonwealth v. Son Truong
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2012-01-13· cited 143×
• Commonwealth v. McClendon
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2005-05-02· cited 115×
• Commonwealth v. Robinson
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 2005-06-22· cited 112×
• State v. Betts
  Supreme Court of Kansas· 2022-07-29· cited 69×
• United States v. Bordeaux
  Eighth Circuit· 2009-07-07· cited 30×
• Commonwealth v. Norley
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2012-10-15· cited 16×
• State v. Williams
  Supreme Court of Connecticut· 2025-06-10· cited 5×
• United States v. Adam Bordeaux
  Eighth Circuit· 2009-07-07
• State v. Joey J. Fowler and Jamil L. Hearns (080880) (Union County and Statewide)
  Supreme Court of New Jersey· 2019-07-30
• State v. Williams (Concurrence & Dissent)
  Supreme Court of Connecticut· 2025-06-10
• Commonwealth v. Kenneth Jose Santana-Rodriguez
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 2025-10-14
• Corey Kendig v. Nicholas Stolar
  Third Circuit· 2026-04-28

Cites

8 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

• People v. Jackson
  Michigan Supreme Court· 1973-12-18· cited 154×
• People v. Robinson
  Appellate Court of Illinois· 1987-11-03· cited 74×
• Commonwealth v. Hilbert
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1978-01-26· cited 66×
• Commonwealth v. Heatherington
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1978-04-28· cited 45×
• Commonwealth v. Walley
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1976-03-17· cited 36×
• People v. Morris
  Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York· 1985-07-12· cited 22×
• People v. Adams
  Appellate Court of Illinois· 1972-12-21· cited 14×
• People v. Morris
  New York Court of Appeals· 1986-09-16· cited 6×

Other cases named Commonwealth v. Fowlin

1 other CourtListener record shares this case name.

• Commonwealth v. Fowlin
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 1996-04-12· cited 12×