Dunnuck v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(a) Crimes committed in presence of police officer.—A police officer may arrest without a warrant a person who commits or attempts to commit a felony or misdemeanor in the presence or within the view of the police officer. (b) Probable cause to believe crime committed in presence of officer.— A police officer who has probable cause to believe that a felony or misdemeanor is being committed in the presence or within the view of the police officer may arrest without a warrant any person whom the police officer reasonably believes to have committed the crime. (c) Probable cause to believe felony committed.—A police officer without a warrant may arrest a person if the police officer has probable cause to believe that a felony has been committed or attempted and the person has committed or attempted to commit the felony whether or not in the presence or within the view of the police officer.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 208 Md. App. 309 - Olson v. State

2. “Whether intended consciously or not, the necessary result of the police conduct in this case was to create an exigency that would justify a warrantless entry. Having seen the contraband as they were told they would and knocked on the petitioner’s door and found no one at home, rather than going immediately to obtain a warrant, for the issuance of which it is undisputed they had probable cause, the police gathered a short distance from the house and watched the house, after calling for back-up. Considering that no one was at home and, presumably, was aware of the police investigation, and that there was clear probable cause for believing that a crime was being committed, it is difficult to understand what securing the house meant, or was intended to accomplish.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 201 Md. App. 23 - McGurk v. State

3. ““[T]he precipitating cause for [the officers’ fear that the evidence would be destroyed] was the actions of the police themselves. By knocking on the petitioner’s door and announcing that they were with the Drug Task force and ‘needed’ to come in, the police alerted the petitioner to their investigation.... [T]he police created the exigency that they rely upon to justify the warrantless entry into the ... house and to excuse their failure to obtain a search warrant.””

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