Commonwealth v. Patrick

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 single punch to the head “was enough to establish a prima facie case for the offense of aggravated assault”
• holding that the Commonwealth established a prima facie case for aggravated assault where the defendant made a surprise attack on victim, delivering a single punch to his head that knocked him to the ground, whereupon his head hit the sidewalk, resulting in serious injuries
• concluding one punch from defendant combined with injuries that the victim sustained from the punch \demonstrate[d] [Patrick] inflicted an assault on the victim with reckless indifference under circumstances which virtually assured serious bodily injury\
• single punch to an unsuspecting victim sufficient to show at a preliminary hearing “reckless indifference under circumstances which virtually assured serious bodily injury”
• “Where -9- J-S19010-15 the victim suffers serious bodily injury, the Commonwealth is not required to prove specific intent.”
• reckless indifference to human life was substantiated where defendant caused serious bodily injury with a single punch to the side of the unsuspecting victim’s head, causing the victim to fall “without reflexive protection”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

13 cases in this archive cite this case.

• Commonwealth v. Burton
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2010-08-03· cited 85×
• Commonwealth v. Landis
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2012-06-26· cited 65×
• In the Interest of: N.A.D., Appeal of: N.A.D.
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2019-03-05· cited 16×
• Commonwealth v. Winger
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2008-09-12· cited 15×
• Commonwealth v. Lees
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2016-03-24· cited 8×
• Com. v. Distefano, B.
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2020-07-29· cited 6×
• Com. v. Landis
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2011-05-20
• Com. v. Palmer, R.
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2018-06-26
• Commonwealth v. Distefano, B., Aplt.
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 2021-12-22
• Commonwealth v. Lopez
  Berks County Court of Common Pleas· 2009-12-15
• Com. v. Frye, K.
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2024-07-15
• Com. v. Williamson, J.
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2025-01-10
• Tzvia Wexler v. Charmaine Hawkins
  Third Circuit· 2026-04-22

Cites

12 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

• Commonwealth v. Alexander
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1978-03-23· cited 198×
• Commonwealth v. Marti
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2001-06-29· cited 138×
• Commonwealth v. O'Hanlon
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1995-01-20· cited 115×
• Commonwealth v. Robinson
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2003-02-14· cited 87×
• Commonwealth v. Nichols
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 1997-04-02· cited 82×
• Commonwealth v. Hlatky
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 1993-05-25· cited 48×
• Commonwealth v. Laing
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 1983-02-04· cited 40×
• Commonwealth v. Scofield
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1987-02-12· cited 37×
• Commonwealth v. Roche
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2001-08-27· cited 33×
• Commonwealth v. James
  Superior Court of Pennsylvania· 2004-12-08· cited 33×
• Commonwealth v. Daniels
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1976-04-07· cited 31×
• Commonwealth v. Rohach
  Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1985-07-05· cited 16×