Commonwealth v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

25 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 25 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In determining the validity of a given consent, the Commonwealth bears the burden of establishing that a consent is the product .of an essentially free and unconstrained choice — not the result of duress or coercion, express or implied, •or a will overborne — under the totality of the circumstances. The standard for measuring the scope of a person’s consent is based on an objective evaluation of what a reasonable person would have understood by the exchange between the officer and the person who gave the consent. Such evaluation includes an objective examination of the maturity, sophistication and mental or emotional state of the defendant. Gauging the scope of a' defendant’s consent is an inherent and necessary part of the process of determining, on the totality of the circumstances presented, whether the consent is objectively valid, or instead the product of coercion, deceit, or misrepresentation.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2016 Pa. Super. 293 - Commonwealth v. Evans · Commonwealth v. Kurtz

2. “the fluid nature of searches and seizures render rules that require detailed warnings by law enforcement simply unfeasible.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Robertson · Commonwealth v. Geary

3. “the potentiality of the results being used for criminal, investigative, or prosecutorial purposes.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Valdivia, R., Aplt.