Cost v. Com.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

28 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “a consideration of the officer's knowledge, training and experience”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Harris v. Com. · Jones v. Com.

2. “defendant's claim that evidence was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment presents a mixed question of law and fact that we review de novo.... In making such a determination, we give deference to the factual findings of the circuit court, but we independently determine whether the manner in which the evidence was obtained meets the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. The defendant has the burden to show that, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the circuit court's denial of his suppression motion was reversible error.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Cole v. Commonwealth

3. “[I]t is self-evident that if an item may just as well be a legal medication dispensed in capsule form or a capsule containing an illegal drug, its character as the latter cannot be readily apparent by feeling a suspect's outer clothing that contains the item inside.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. In Re CC