52 Va. App. 230 - Zektaw v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “[Zektaw's] reference to a lawyer during the initial stage of his discussion with the police officers may be interpreted as an exclamation of disbelief, or of his awareness, regarding the situation in which he found himself. Whether appellant was requesting [that] an attorney be present during the interrogation or was simply registering disbelief or awareness under the circumstances is not clear. His statement, open to more than one interpretation, was ambiguous. Tellingly, during the conversation that followed his statement, appellant did not again make a reference to an attorney, nor did he state he wished to consult with one during the ensuing interview.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Zektaw v. Com.

2. “1. The Court of Appeals erred in upholding the erroneous rulings of the trial court and in deciding the defendant's words were ambiguous and that he did not clearly invoke his right to counsel.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Zektaw v. Com.

3. “would like to have somebody else in here because I may say something I don't even know what I am saying, and it might ... jam me up”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Zektaw v. Com.