283 Ill. App. 3d 796 - People v. Thompson’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. ““The validity of a traffic stop does not automatically afford a reasonable basis to fulfill an underlying ambition to conduct a search. [Citation.] Our determination that the initial stop was valid but pretextual does not resolve the legitimacy of the challenged search. Rather, it requires our examination of the record to determine the reasonableness of actions taken after the traffic stop. The State argues that circumstances after the stop warranted a protective search. *** One circumstance sets this case apart from other cases that have validated protective searches made in the course of traffic stops. This was a pretextual stop. We know that the officers stopped the van motivated by a desire to search it. The officers recognized that their information did not afford a reasonable basis to arrest or search. They therefore refrained from stopping the van until they detected a traffic offense. Thereafter, their actions were calculated to develop a legal reason to support a search. The officers’ subjective intent in a pretextual setting cannot make otherwise lawful conduct illegal. It cannot invalidate the stop. It is not, however, totally irrelevant to questions that accompany a pretextual stop. A pretextual stop, by definition, harbors an underlying ambition to exceed its original scope. Once a traffic stop’s pretextual nature is established, as it was in this case, we know that the true objective is to find a legal excuse to accomplish a warrantless search. This goal exposes”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 349 Ill. App. 3d 462 - People v. Lomas

2. “"Even though the traffic offense masked other reasons for the stop unsupported by probable cause, ulterior motives cannot make otherwise lawful conduct illegal. The pretextual nature of the stop did not invalidate it. The police had probable cause for the stop. The inquiry ends there.” Thompson, 283 Ill. App. 3d at 798-99 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 286 Ill. App. 3d 142 - People v. Orsby