Commonwealth v. Brooks’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

47 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 47 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Detective O’Brien was the police officer assigned to investigate the homicide for which appellant was arrested. While at the scene of the crime, Detective O’Brien re ceived information from witnesses to the shooting, and other young, people in the area, that the ‘Cedar Street gang’ was responsible, and that this gang had been involved in several similar incidents in the past four weeks. Detective O’Brien then began to patrol the area looking for suspects and ‘. . . tried to cultivate more information. . . ’ At approximately 11:30 p.m., December 10,1973, approximately three hours after the shooting, Detective O’Brien received information from police headquarters that an anonymous phone caller had stated that ‘Brooks from Baltimore Avenue was one of the persons responsible for this shooting’. Detective O’Brien also received information that several persons responsible for the shooting were in a bar located at Rogers Street and Baltimore Avenue. The source of this information does not appear on the record. At approximately 12:45 a. m., December 11, 1973, while patrolling near the intersection of Rogers Street and Christian Street (near the location of the bar named by the anonymous caller) in an effort to locate members of the Cedar Street gang and obtain information Detective O’Brien stopped appellant who was walking on the street to ask him some questions. The detective’s intent in questioning appellant was to ascertain the validity of the anonymous telephone tip, and to asce”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 295 Pa. Super. 72 - Commonwealth v. Simmons · 288 Pa. Super. 232 - Commonwealth v. Jenkins

2. ““The law is clear that a warrantless arrest is not lawful unless there is probable cause therefore . . . Whether there is probable cause to arrest without a warrant depends on whether, at the moment a suspect is taken into custody, the facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge, and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient to warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe that an offense has been committed and that the person to be arrested has committed the offense Thus, in order to arrest without a warrant, the officer must have a reasonable belief in the probability of criminal activity by the person to be arrested. However, that belief need not be grounded in the officer’s direct, personal knowledge of the relevant facts and circumstances. It may, instead, rest solely on information supplied by another person where there is a “substantial basis” for crediting that information . This Court has held that information provided by certain classes of persons may be sufficient to establish probable cause. It is well-settled that the uncorroborated confession of an accomplice which implicates the suspect will supply the probable cause for a warrantless arrest . Similarly, the statement of a victim, identifying the perpetrator of a crime, has been found sufficient to establish probable cause for that person’s arrest . Further, information provided by an eyewitness whose identity is known has also been deemed sufficient . Thus, in determining w”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 266 Pa. Super. 167 - Commonwealth v. Patterson

3. “On January 8, 1971, a pharmacist and his assistant were beaten and robbed by three unidentified males on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia at approximately 8:00 P.M. Almost six weeks later the police received an anonymous phone call from a youth who said that one of the participants in that robbery was named “Primo” and that “Primo” lived in a certain area of Philadelphia. Two days later, appellant, George Betrand, a juvenile, known to the police as “Primo”, was arrested without a warrant. He was taken immediately to the station house and placed in a locked interrogation room where he remained for approximately two hours. A detective subsequently arrived and advised him of his rights by reading from the standard police interrogation card. After approximately one-half hour of questioning, appellant gave an oral statement admitting his involvement in the robbery.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 288 Pa. Super. 232 - Commonwealth v. Jenkins