Roach v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It is the second paragraph of Officer Spooner's affidavit that is particularly troubling. In that paragraph, Officer Spooner states that the CI in question had furnished him "with information in the past that has proven to be true and correct regarding the trafficking of illicit narcotics...." However, Officer Spooner's testimony during the suppression hearing indicates that the CI had never provided him with information prior to January 22, 2003. Although Officer Spooner waffled and attempted to rectify the situation by asserting that the CI had provided him with credible information in the past that had not actually led to arrests, Officer Bullock's testimony clarified that it was apparent when Officer Spooner and the CI met on January 22, 2003, that the two had never met before. Officer Bullock also testified that, to his knowledge, Officer Spooner had never worked with the CI prior to January 22, 2003. There are two interpretations of the statement in the affidavit that the CI had furnished Officer Spooner with information in the past: (1) that Officer Spooner had a working relationship with the CI, who had given him reliable information that had been verified in the course of past cases; or (2) that Officer Spooner was referring only to the January 22 controlled buy when he stated that the CI had given him reliable information in the past. Of these two interpretations, we find that the issuing judge was far more likely to assume the first from Officer Spooner's averment ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Roach v. State

2. “On the morning of Thursday, January 23, 2003,[ [2] ] I, Investigator R.W. Spooner, received information from a Confidential Informant that cocaine was being stored and sold from a residence located at 217 Foxboro Drive, Jackson, Mississippi. This Confidential Informant has observed cocaine being stored and distributed from this location within the last twenty-four hours and has identified the owner of this residence to be a black male known only to the Confidential Informant as "Jimmy Roach." This Confidential Informant, having furnished me with information in the past that has proven to be true and correct regarding the trafficking of illicit narcotics, is known by me to be a truthful, credible, and a reliable source of information. Based upon these underlying facts and circumstances, I, Investigator R.W. Spooner, request that a search warrant be issued for the search of the residence located at 217 Foxboro Drive in the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Jackson, Mississippi, for the search and seizure of cocaine, paraphernalia related to the trafficking of cocaine, and any monetary instruments derived from the trafficking of cocaine. This search to include any outbuildings, vehicles located on the property, and any safe or locked containers found on the premises.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Roach v. State

3. “The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, commonsense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the "veracity" and "basis of knowledge" of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. And the duty of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a "substantial basis for ... [concluding]" that probable cause existed.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Roach v. State