Commonwealth v. Long’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 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 unlawful search and the discovery of the evidence (temporal attenuation); [2] whether any circumstances intervened between the illegal act and the discovery of the evidence (intervening circumstances); and [3] how integral the unlawful search was to the acquisition of the evidence (purpose and flagrancy of the unlawful conduct).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Tavares · 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1118 - Commonwealth v. Mason

2. “we ask, first, whether the police performed the [claimed] illegal act for the purpose of obtaining the evidence that the defendant seeks to suppress, and second, whether the police knew that their actions were illegal but proceeded anyway.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 95 Mass. App. Ct. 641 - Commonwealth v. Jones · 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1118 - Commonwealth v. Mason

3. “We do not apply a 'but for' test in determining whether to suppress [evidence] obtained after an unlawful search.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Vasquez · 94 Mass. App. Ct. 1118 - Commonwealth v. Mason