State v. Tolbert’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

36 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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) the length of time between the giving of the first warnings and the subsequent interrogation ...; (2) whether the warnings and the subsequent interrogation were given in the same or different places ...; (3) whether the warnings were given and the subsequent interrogation conducted by the same or different officers ...; (4) the extent to which the subsequent statement differed from any previous statements ...; (5) the apparent intellectual and emotional state of the suspect.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 162 Md. App. 55 - Harper v. State · 195 Md. App. 311 - Pryor v. State

2. “The first prong of the Hillard test is an objective one. In other words, when determining whether a police officer’s conduct satisfies the first prong, the court must determine whether a reasonable person in the position of the accused would be moved to make an inculpatory statement upon hearing the officer’s declaration; an accused’s subjective belief that he will receive a benefit in exchange for a confession carries no weight under this prong. Ultimately, the court must determine whether the interrogating officers or an agent of the police made a threat, promise, or inducement. The threat, promise, or inducement can be considered improper regardless whether it is express or implied. If the suppression court finds that the law enforcement officer improperly induced the accused, then the second prong of the Hillard test requires the court to determine whether the accused relied on that inducement in making the statement he or she seeks to suppress. Specifically, the court must examine whether there exists a causal nexus between the inducement and the statement!!]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Williams v. State

3. “Otherwise stated, the test of the admissibility of [a] confession is whether [the accused’s] will was overborne at the time that he confessed, or whether his confession was the product of a rational intellect and a free will, ... or whether his statement was “freely self-determined,”.... So that ... the question is not whether the accused was frightened, but whether his disclosures to the officers were freely and voluntarily made at a time when he knew and understood what he was saying.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 164 Md. App. 170 - Lincoln v. State