114 Conn. App. 528 - State v. Ryder’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Kelly] closed the shower door, and he and . . . Smurlo continued to search the rest of the residence for the [sixteen year old son]. [Kelly] did not know at the time whether the possession of the reptile in the tub was illegal. The officers, having completed their search . . . exited the residence and left the reptile still in the bathtub where they found it. "On September 8, 2004, almost four weeks later, the defendant was arrested on charges of risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes § 53-21 and illegal possession of a reptile in violation of [General Statutes] § 26-55. On March 6, 2006, the defendant moved to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of his home and to dismiss the charges against him. After a three day suppression hearing, the court denied the defendant's motions. The state entered a nolle prosequi with regard to the charge of risk of injury to a child, and the defendant entered a plea of nolo contendere to the possession of a reptile charge, conditioned on reserving his right to appeal from the court's ruling on his motions to suppress and to dismiss. . . . The [trial] court found that the rulings on the defendant's motion to dismiss and motion to suppress were dispositive of the case for the purposes of General Statutes § 54-94a and Practice Book § 61-6(a)(2)(i) and sentenced him to pay a $35 fine, which he since has paid.”

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

2. “[Kelly] stepped over the low white fence and began to walk around the house, announcing the presence of the police. [Kelly] rang the front doorbell and knocked on the front door to no avail. He then walked around the back of the house and approached a set of French doors. He observed through those doors a cot on which there was a bag of clothes that appeared suitable for a teenager, some video games and an otherwise impeccable house. [Kelly] grabbed the handle, realized that the door was not locked and proceeded to open the door. At that point, he called for backup in accordance with police procedure relative to finding an open door in a residence. [Robert Smurlo, another Stamford police officer] arrived at the scene within a few minutes and was briefed by [Kelly] before they entered the residence.”

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

3. “[Kelly] testified that based on the facts as he knew them to be, he believed that the missing [sixteen year old son] may be in danger inside the house. Important to that belief were the facts of a reportedly missing [teenager], the nature of the couch and vehicle in the driveway area, no response to his repeated calls from outside the house, an unlocked door and the . . . clothes strewn on the cot on the first floor. For those and other reasons, [Kelly and Smurlo] decided to enter the residence . . . to look in places where a [teenager] may be located.”

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