State v. Fowler’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Bjefore the police may frisk a defendant, they must have a reasonable belief the defendant is armed and dangerous. Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85 , 100 S.Ct. 338 , 62 L.Ed.2d 238 (1979). In other words, a reasonable person in the position of the officer must believe the frisk was necessary to preserve the officer’s safety. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). An officer must be able to specify the particular facts on which he or she based his or her belief the suspect was armed and dangerous. Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40 , 88 S.Ct. 1889 , 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1968) (an officer is not entitled to seize and search every person on the street; mere knowledge of the suspect being a known narcotics dealer who put his or her hand into a pocket as the police approached does not provide justification); cf. United States v. Moore, 817 F.2d 1105 (4th Cir.1987) (justification found where suspect was observed in the vicinity of a building late at night, shortly after the alarm sounds, and the street is dark, the officer is alone, and the suspected crime is burglary), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 965 , 108 S.Ct. 456 , 98 L.Ed.2d 396 (1987).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Butler