State v. Harris’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

131 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 131 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"Probable cause and ‘reasonable ground to believe’ are substantially equivalent terms. ‘Probable cause for an arrest has been defined to be a reasonable ground of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong in themselves to warrant a cautious man in believing the accused to be guilty. ... To establish probable cause the evidence need not amount to proof of guilt, or even prima facie evidence of guilt, but it must be such as would actuate a reasonable man acting in good faith. One does not have probable cause unless he has information of facts which, if submitted to a magistrate, would require the issuance of an arrest warrant.’ (Citation omitted.) ‘The existence of “probable cause,” justifying an arrest without a warrant, is determined by factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians, act. It is a pragmatic question to be determined in each case in the light of the particular circumstances and the particular offense involved.’ (Citations omitted.)””

   18 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Zuniga · State v. Bone

2. ““ * A police officer may search the person of one whom he has lawfully arrested as an incident of such arrest. . . . In the course of such search, the officer may lawfully take from the person arrested any property which such person has about him and which is connected with the crime charged or which may be required as evidence thereof. If such article is otherwise competent, it may properly be introduced in evidence by the State.’ State v. Roberts, 276 N.C. 98, 102 , 171 S.E. 2d 440, 448 . Accord, State v. Tippett, 270 N.C. 588 , 155 S.E. 2d 269 . ‘Unquestionably, when a person is lawfully arrested, the police have the right, without a search warrant, to make a contemporaneous search of the person of the accused for weapons or for the fruits of or implements used to commit the crime.’ Preston v. United States, 376 U.S. 364, 367 , 11 L. ed. 2d 777, 780, 84 S.Ct. 881, 883 . Accord, Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 762-763 , 23 L. ed. 2d 685, 694, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 2040 .””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Streeter · State v. Jackson