174 W. Va. 212 - State v. Perry’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 3 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Reasonable cause for impoundment may, for example, include the necessity for removing (1) an unattended-to car illegally parked or otherwise obstructing traffic; (2) an unattended-to car from the scene of an accident when the driver is physically or mentally incapable of deciding upon steps to be taken to deal with his property, as in the ease of the intoxicated, mentally incapacitated or seriously injured driver; (3) a car that has been stolen or used in the commission of a crime when its retention as evidence is necessary; (4) an abandoned ear; (5) a car so mechanically defective as to be a menace to others using the public highway; (6) a car impoundable pursuant to ordinance or statute which provides therefor as in the case of forfeiture.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 203 W. Va. 103 - State v. York

2. “There is no need to confer with the owner or possessor of a car prior to impoundment concerning the disposition of his vehicle and its contents where he is unavailable or physically or mentally incapable of making arrangements for its protection or the vehicle has been stolen or has been used in the commission of a crime and its retention as evidence is necessary. However, in the situation where the owner or possessor of a vehicle has been arrested in or near his car, ordinarily, he must be given a reasonable opportunity to make some alternative disposition of the vehicle before the police may impound it for the sole purpose of protecting it and its contents from theft or damage.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 203 W. Va. 103 - State v. York

3. “In this case, we find that the arresting officer did not have a ground for impoundment that would enable him to avoid giving the driver a reasonable opportunity to make an alternative disposition. The failure to permit such alternative disposition renders the impoundment and subsequent inventory search invalid. We specifically base this requirement, as we did in Goff , on Section 6 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 203 W. Va. 103 - State v. York