417 Pa. Super. 425 - Commonwealth v. Dennis’s Empirical Analysis
1992
Citation profile
41 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 41 later decisions — most recently October 2019 · most notably Commonwealth v. Banks (1995), 422 Pa. Super. 153 - Commonwealth v. Quiles (1993)
41 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · Batson v. Kentucky · In re the Primary Election of May 21, 1991 · Commonwealth v. Dugger · Commonwealth v. Gray
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 41 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““In reviewing the findings of a suppression court where the Commonwealth is appealing, we must consider only the evidence of the defendant’s witnesses and so much of the evidence for the prosecution as read in the context of the record as a whole remains uncontradicted, [citation omitted], While we are bound by the [trial] court’s findings of fact if supported by the record, we are not bound by the [trial] court’s legal conclusions which are drawn from the facts of the case, [citations omitted].””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“[w]hen we examine a particular situation to determine if probable cause exists, we consider all the factors and their total effect, and do not concentrate on each individual element.... We also focus on the circumstances as seen through the eyes of the trained officer, and do not view the situation as an average citizen might.... Finally, we must remember that in dealing with questions of probable cause, we are not dealing with certainties. We are dealing with the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men act. This is not the same ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard which we apply in determining guilt or innocence at trial. Commonwealth v. Devlin, 221 Pa.Super. 175 , 289 A.2d 237 (1972).”
1 later decision quote this exact passage““the facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge are sufficient to warrant a prudent individual in believing that an offense was committed and that the defendant has committed it.” In determining whether probable cause existed in a particular situation, “a court will not look just at one or two individual factors, but will consider the ‘totality of the circumstances’ as they appeared to the arresting officer.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.