5 Md. App. 367 - Brown v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 15 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““To the arresting officer, as perhaps to any reasonably cautious citizen, the sight of a man pushing a baby carriage on a parking lot at 4:45 A.M. on a Sunday morning was unusual and, undoubtedly, created a suspicion in the officer’s mind that all was not right. Likewise, after listening to the appellant’s explanation and his refusal to give his address, the officer’s suspicion may have heightened. But the officer himself readily conceded that he was unaware that the church or any other building had been broken into that night. Thus, one of the essential ingredients of the rule of probable cause—reasonable grounds to believe that a felony had been committed—was not within the knowledge of the officer unless it can be said that a reasonably cautious man, under the facts within the officer’s purview, would have had probable cause to believe that a felony had been committed and that the felony had been committed by the appellant. Measured by this standard, we are of the opinion that the facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge would not compel a rea sonably cautious man to conclude that a felony had been committed, since the known conduct of the appellant at the time of the arrest was, at the least, equally consistent with innocent travel on a public thoroughfare.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 6 Md. App. 370 - Mercer v. State

2. ““It is evident that the line is not easy to draw. It must be drawn on a case by case basis. Where it will be drawn can only be determined after a careful analysis of the facts and circumstances of each case which requires the striking of a balance between the Constitutional right of the individual to be free of unwarranted molestation and the requirements of society to be protected from the ravages of the criminal.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 6 Md. App. 370 - Mercer v. State