104 So. 3d 657 - State v. Bridges’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Ms. Bridges does not contest the reasonableness of the initial stop and detention. The question presented here is whether Officer Aubert was justified in searching under the passenger seat. In State v. Davis, 612 So.2d 256, 258 (La.App. 4 Cir.1992), the defendant was speeding, and as the police officers pulled next to him to wave him over to stop, they saw the defendant reach down and place something under the seat. The officers stopped the car, ordered the defendant out of the car, and searched under the seat, finding contraband. Id. Prior to reaching its decision in Davis , the Fourth Circuit reviewed State v. Archie, 477 So.2d 864, 865-866 (La.App. 4 Cir.1985), in which this Court ruled that an exaggerated motion as if to place something under the seat could easily lead a reasonably prudent man to believe that his safety or the safety of others was in danger and justified the search. Id. at 259. Based upon this Court’s holding in Archie , the Davis Court found that the police were justified in looking under the seat after the driver and passenger exited and thus upheld the search and seizure of the contraband. Id. In the present case, Officer Aubert testified that after pulling the vehicle over, he observed Ms. Bridges motion as if she were putting something under the seat. Thus, like the police officers in Archie, 477 So.2d at 866 , and Davis, 612 So.2d at 259 , Officer Aubert and his partner could reasonably believe that Ms. Bridges was trying to hide or retrieve somethi”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Lockett