983 So. 2d 322 - Phinizee v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Evidence of prior bad acts is admissible to '[t]ell the complete story so as not to confuse the jury.'”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. E.L.Y. v. State · E.L.Y. v. State

2. “In April 1999, an officer of the Lowndes County Narcotics Unit (LCNU) made an undercover purchase of forty dollars worth of cocaine from Bernard's Pool Hall. No arrest was made at the time. In July 2001, officers of the LCNU received a letter from a concerned citizen stating that a man by the name of John was selling drugs from Bernard's. Again, in April 2002, Officer Larry Swearingen of the LCNU received a letter from a concerned citizen stating that Phinizee was selling cocaine and marijuana from Bernard's. Shortly thereafter, Officer Swearingen talked with Phinizee at Bernard's but no arrest was made at the time. In October of 2003, Georgia Whitmore's husband came to Officer Swearingen's office and stated that his wife was regularly purchasing crack cocaine from Phinizee at Bernard's Pool Hall and sometimes at one of the Citco stations in Columbus, Mississippi. He stated further that his wife had been buying from Phinizee for a long time and was addicted to cocaine. On December 8, 2003, Whitmore's husband called Officer Swearingen and informed him that Whitmore planned to meet Phinizee to buy cocaine the next day between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. at one of two Citco stations, located either on Highway 45 North or at the intersection of Military Road and Martin Luther King Drive. Whitmore's husband supplied the tag number of Phinizee's vehicle, which he described as a black extended-cab Chevrolet truck. Whitmore's husband also stated that his wife would be driving a maroon 20”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 269 So. 3d 432 - John Phinizee v. State of Mississippi

3. “probable cause is determined by assessing the totality of the circumstances.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Tremaine Whittaker v. State of Mississippi