Commonwealth v. Wimbush’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

46 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 46 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Because of its unreliability, an anonymous radio call alone is insufficient to establish a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. [Commonwealth v. Jackson, 548 Pa. 484 , 698 A.2d 571 (1997); Commonwealth v. Hawkins, 547 Pa. 652 , 692 A.2d 1068 (1997)]. The Court in Jackson further explained that the fact that the police proceeded to the designated location and saw a person matching the description in the call did not corroborate any alleged criminal activity. Jackson, 548 Pa. at 492 , 698 A.2d at 574 -75 (quoting Hawkins, 547 Pa. at 656-57 , 692 A.2d 1068 ) Since anyone can describe a person who is standing in a particular location, “something more is needed to corroborate the caller’s allegations of criminal conduct.” Id. In the typical anonymous caller situation, the police will need an independent basis to establish reasonable suspicion. Id. As explained in Hawkins , where the police are acting on information supplied anonymously, the public will receive its full measure of protection by police who act within constitutional restraints. Hawkins, 547 Pa. at 657-58 , 692 A.2d at 1071 . When the police receive unverified information that a person is engaged in illegal activity, the police may observe the suspect and conduct an investigation. If police surveillance produces a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct, the suspect may be stopped and questioned. Id.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2002 Pa. Super. 30 - Commonwealth v. Ayala

2. “Reasonable suspicion is a less demanding standard than probable cause not only in the sense that reasonable suspicion can be established with information that is different in quantity or content than that required to establish probable cause, but also in the sense that reasonable suspicion can arise from information that is less reliable than that required to show probable cause.... Reasonable suspicion, like probable cause, is dependent on both the content of information possessed by police and its degree of reliability. Both factors — quantity and quality — are considered in the ‘totality of the circumstances — the whole picture,’ ... that must be taken into account when evaluating whether there is reasonable suspicion. Thus, if a tip has a relatively low degree of reliability, more information will be required to establish the requisite quantum of suspicion than would be required if the tip were more reliable.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 2006 Pa. Super. 135 - Commonwealth v. Fell

3. “There was, however, no corroboration of the tipster’s allegations of criminal conduct to justify Officer Matthew’s stop. While White’s appearance was consistent with the anonymous caller’s overly general description and White did exit the housing complex on the described bicycle, Officer Matthews observed no unusual conduct which would suggest that criminal activity was afoot. As such, Officer Matthew’s surveillance produced no reason independent of the unreliable, anonymous tip to suspect that White was involved in criminal conduct. Rather, the only basis for Officer Matthew’s belief that a crime had been committed remained the information obtained from the uncorroborated tip that bore no indicia of reliability. Under Jackson , this basis is simply not adequate to establish the reasonable suspicion required to conduct an investigatory stop.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2000 Pa. Super. 181 - Commonwealth v. Hayward