Commonwealth v. Dunlap’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

29 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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Troy Wormley, (hereinafter “Appellant”), has appealed this Court’s Order denying his petition for a Writ of Certio-rari in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas from a denial of his motion in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to suppress physical evidence. Appellant contends that the reviewing court erred in denying his motion to suppress physical evidence in as much as police observation of a mere exchange of unknown objects for money did not proved probable cause to search Appellant’s pocket and seize evidence from within in violation of Appellant’s rights under Article 1, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This Court finds that Appellant’s complaint fails and lacks merit, as the record supports the factual findings and the conclusions drawn therefrom. This appeal, therefore, should be dismissed with prejudice. PROCEDURAL HISTORY On February 7, 2005, Appellant was arrested and charged with knowing possession of a controlled substance. On November 3, 2005, the Honorable James DeLeon denied Appellant’s motion to suppress. After a Bench trial on March 20, 2006, the Honorable David C. Shuter found Appellant guilty and sentenced him to twelve (12) months probation. On April 13, 2006, Appellant filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari which was heard and denied by this Court on August 3, 2006. On August 29, 2006 Appellant filed a timely appeal from the denial of a writ of certiorari. On February 7, 2007, Appella”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2008 Pa. Super. 107 - Commonwealth v. Wormley

2. “We do not seek to minimize the experience gained through years serving on the police force. Quite to the contrary, we recognize that many officers, particularly those with specialized training, are able to recognize trends and methods in the commission of various crimes. For instance, an officer who has specialized in drug crimes may be more suspicious that a package contains illegal narcotics because of the form of packaging used to conceal those drugs. He or she may recognize criminal activity where a non-police citizen may not. However, a court cannot simply conclude that probable cause existed based upon nothing more than the number of years an officer has spent on the force. Rather, the officer must demonstrate a nexus between his experience and the search, arrest, or seizure of evidence. By doing so, a court aware of, informed by, and viewing the evidence as the officer in question, aided in assessing his observations by his experience, may properly conclude that probable cause existed. This is true even where the court may have been unable to perceive the existence of probable cause had the court viewed the same evidence through the eyes of a reasonable citizen untrained in law enforcement.”

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

3. “To be constitutionally valid, an arrest must be based on probable cause. The existence or non-existence of probable cause is determined by the totality of the circumstances. The totality of the circumstances test requires a Court to determine whether the facts and circumstances which are within the knowledge of the officer at the time of the arrest, and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that the suspect has committed or is committing a crime.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2009 Pa. Super. 155 - Commonwealth v. Smith