71 Md. App. 375 - Crampton v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 15 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “field sobriety tests are essentially personal observations of a police officer which determine a suspect’s balance and ability to speak with recollection. There is nothing ‘new’ or perhaps even ‘scientific’ about the exercises that an officer requests a suspect to perform. Those sobriety tests have been approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are simply guidelines for police officers to utilize in order to observe more precisely a suspect’s coordination. It requires no particular scientific skill or training for a police officer, or any other competent person, to ascertain whether someone performing simple tasks is to a degree affected by alcohol. The field sobriety tests are designed to reveal objective information about a driver’s coordination.... The Frye-Reed test does not apply to those field sobriety tests because the latter are essentially empirical observations, involving no controversial, new or ‘scientific’ technique. Their use is guided by practical experience, not theory.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 106 Md. App. 145 - Schultz v. State · 185 F. Supp. 2d 530 - United States v. Horn

2. “(1) Test results [determining the existence of alcohol in the blood or the breath] which comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section are admissible as substantive evidence without the presence or testimony of the technician who administered the test. However, if the State decides to offer the test results without the testimony of the technician, it shall, at least 20 days before trial, notify the defendant or his attorney in writing of its intention and deliver to the defendant or his attorney a copy of the test results to be offered. (2) If the defendant desires the technician to be present and testify at trial, the defendant shall notify the court and the State in writing no later than 10 days before trial. If such timely and proper notice is given, the test results are inadmissible without the testimony of the technician. (3) Failure to give timely and proper notice constitutes a waiver of the defendant’s right to the presence and testimony of the technician.”

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