From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Commonwealth v. Cull

Pennsylvania Supreme Court
656 A.2d 476 (1995)

Written by Sean Carroll, JD

Facts

Demetrius Cull and Anthony Smith (defendants) ran a drug operation out of their home, where a dead body was found. Cull and Smith were charged with murder and were tried together. At trial, Faye Cherry testified that on the morning of the murder, Smith told her in Cull’s presence that Smith and Cull had killed the victim because she threatened to call the police on them. Fitzroy Lewis also testified that Smith called him on the morning of the murder. According to this testimony, Smith told Lewis that he and Cull had killed the woman because she was giving them trouble and Smith asked Lewis to recommend a hotel where he and Cull could hide out before skipping town. The trial court granted Cull’s motion for a new trial on the ground that the testimony contained inadmissible hearsay. The superior court reversed. Cull appealed.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Castille, J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support