Commonwealth v. Cawthron’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"(1) the place of the interrogation; (2) whether the officers have conveyed to the person being questioned any belief or opinion that the person is a suspect; (3) the nature of the interrogation, including whether the interview was aggressive or, instead, informal and influenced in its contours by the person being interviewed; and (4) whether, at the time the incriminating statement was made, the person was free to end the interview by leaving the locus of the interrogation or by asking the interrogator to leave, as evidenced by whether the interview terminated with an arrest."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Wardsworth · Commonwealth v. Amaral

2. “In reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, we accept the [motion] judge's subsidiary findings of fact absent clear error but conduct an independent review of [the] ultimate findings and conclusions of law.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 93 Mass. App. Ct. 740 - Commonwealth v. Galarza

3. “[N]othing in the record suggests that [the officers] were 'aggressive,' 'persistent,' or 'harsh,' which would support a conclusion that the defendant[ ] had been subject to a custodial interrogation.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Wardsworth