Com. v. Ferguson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[i]f [the accused] states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 57 Va. App. 566 - Stevens v. Commonwealth · 58 Va. App. 13 - Quarles v. Commonwealth

2. “belie[f] that he is not capable of undergoing such questioning without advice of counsel, then it is presumed that any subsequent waiver that has come at the authorities' behest, and not at the suspect's own instigation, is itself the product of `inherently compelling pressures' and not the purely voluntary choice of the suspect.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 57 Va. App. 566 - Stevens v. Commonwealth

3. “an accused, . . . having expressed his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him, unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 58 Va. App. 13 - Quarles v. Commonwealth