Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 4/10/1985
Commonwealth v. Robinson
Citations
- 491 A.2d 107
- 507 Pa. 522
- 1985 Pa. LEXIS 381
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- disallowing inquiry into a witness’ motive is highly prejudicial in cases which hinge on credibility
- disallowing inquiry into a witness' motive is highly prejudicial in cases which hinge on credibility
- “[A] witness may be cross-examined for the purpose of showing a motive to give false testimony.”
- cross-examination may be employed to test witness’s story, impeach credibility, and establish motive for testifying
- “Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to confront witnesses against them, which includes the right to cross-examine[.]”
- where prosecution and defense witnesses presented conflicting versions of the facts, and credibility of the witnesses was therefore pivotal, the trial court committed reversible error by restricting cross-examination as to the bias of the prosecution’s chief witness
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Nix, Larsen, Flaherty, McDermott, Hutchinson, Zappala, Papadakos
Read full opinion on CourtListenerCited by
20 cases in this archive cite this case.
- Commonwealth v. ChmielSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 2005-12-29· cited 431×
- Commonwealth v. HylandSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 2005-05-27· cited 255×
- Commonwealth v. PattersonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 2014-04-28· cited 150×
- Commonwealth v. SpiewakSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1992-11-10· cited 104×
- Commonwealth v. LemanskiSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1987-07-20· cited 76×
- Commonwealth v. BirchSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1992-11-23· cited 72×
- Commonwealth v. HanesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1987-03-09· cited 44×
- Commonwealth v. SmithSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1988-12-08· cited 39×
- Commonwealth v. ButlerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1991-12-19· cited 37×
- Commonwealth v. GaddisSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1994-03-22· cited 37×
- Commonwealth v. GentileSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1994-03-31· cited 33×
- Commonwealth v. SimsSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1987-02-17· cited 24×
- Commonwealth v. KingSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 2007-12-28· cited 12×
- Hamill-Quinlan, Inc. v. FisherSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1991-05-22· cited 11×
- Commonwealth v. ReedSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1994-06-08· cited 10×
- Commonwealth v. ButlerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1987-09-29· cited 8×
- Commonwealth v. IafrateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1989-07-14· cited 6×
- In the Interest of DixonSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1995-02-24· cited 4×
- Commonwealth v. DawsonSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1997-11-18· cited 4×
- Commonwealth v. DaySuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1990-09-21· cited 4×
Cites
9 cases in this archive are cited by this case.
- Davis v. AlaskaSupreme Court· 1974-02-27· cited 5,953×
- Smith v. IllinoisSupreme Court· 1968-01-29· cited 763×
- Downey v. WestonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1973-03-16· cited 72×
- Commonwealth v. CheathamSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1968-03-15· cited 61×
- Commonwealth v. CoadesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1973-11-26· cited 44×
- Commonwealth v. DawsonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1979-07-05· cited 33×
- Commonwealth v. SullivanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania· 1979-07-05· cited 32×
- United States v. Harold MilesSecond Circuit· 1973-06-07· cited 18×
- Townsend WillSuperior Court of Pennsylvania· 1968-04-16· cited 16×
Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.