Commonwealth v. Fernandez’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. “(i) 'the proximity of the area claimed to be the curtilage to the home'; (ii) 'whether the area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home'; (iii) 'the nature of the uses to which the area is put'; and (iv) 'the steps taken by the resident to protect the area from observation by people passing by.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1128 - Commonwealth v. Dobson · 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1121 - Commonwealth v. Reyes

2. “In the context of a curtilage determination, we undertake our independent review cognizant that there is no finely tuned formula that demarcates the curtilage in a given case”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Fredericq · 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1121 - Commonwealth v. Reyes

3. “[T]o date, no appellate case from Massachusetts has accepted as reliable field test results, regardless of the purposes for which they are offered. Until that occurs, field tests offered to prove the identity of a substance, 'presumptive' or otherwise, must be evaluated according to one of the methods approved in Lanigan .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 774 - Commonwealth v. Rodriguez