Smith v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[PJroperly applied, the "independent source" exception [to the exclusionary rule] allows the prosecution to use evidence only if it was, in fact, obtained by fully lawful means.... The "inevitable discovery" exception ... differs in one key respect[:] ... the [challenged] evidence ... [was] not actually ... obtained from an independent source, but rather would have been discovered as a matter of course if independent investigations [had been] allowed to proceed.”

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

2. “We think the severity of the constitutional violation is critical in deciding whether to admit evidence that it is shown would inevitably have been discovered. . . . Bad faith of the police, shown by such activities as conducting an unlawful search in order to accelerate discovery of the evidence, will be relevant in assessing the severity of any constitutional violation.”

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

3. “It is well settled that the exclusionary rule renders inadmissible evidence obtained indirectly as a result of an unlawful search or seizure as well as evidence directly obtained thereby.”

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