4A: Evidentiary Search and Seizure Flashcards
What analysis should be use for 4A search and seizure?
(1) Is there governmental conduct?
(2) Is there standing?
* Did D have reasonable expectation of privacy or does search concern physical intrusion into constitutionally protected area?
(3) Is there valid warrant
* Probable Cause, Particularity, Neutral/detached magistrate
(4) If no, do warrant exceptions apply?
* SILA
* Automobile search
* Plain View
* Consent
* Stop and Frisk
* Exigent Circumstances: Hot Pursuit, Destruction of Evidence, Emergency Aid
What is “governmental conduct”?
Action by police officers, other gov agents, or private individuals acting at direction of public police
NOT: Searches by privately paid police (security guards, subdivision police, campus police)
* Searches by privately paid police don’t violate 4A
Reasonable Suspicion
When does a suspect have standing to object to a governmental search?
Person has OWN reasonable expectation of privacy in place searched/item seized
* Person owned/had right to possession of place searched
* Place searched was person’s home (doesn’t matter if they owned/had right to possession) - ex. grandchild living at grandpa’s
* Person was **overnight guest **at place searched
Reasonable expectation of privacy = totality of the circumstances test!
Ex. If A gives B her backpack linking her to robbery and tells B to throw it away, if police find backpack in B’s home, A has no reasonable expectation of privacy in backpack anymore bc A gave it up. If B’s house was searched illegally, only B would have standing to object.
What is a “reasonable expectation of privacy”?
(1) Was search/seizure by gov agent of constitutionally protected area in which suspect had reasonable expectation of privacy
(2) Physical intrusion by gov into constitutionally protected area to obtain info
What do/don’t people have reasonable expectation of privacy in?
Reasonable expectation of privacy:
* Cell-site location info
* Home
* Curtilage
* Police can’t use sense-enhancing tech (not in general public use) - ex. thermal imager to look inside suspect’s home
* Police can’t put GPS tracking device on person’s car without warrant
No reasonable expectation of privacy in info held out to public/third parties
* Bank account records
* Open fields
* Anything that can be seen from public airspace
* Garbage on street curb for collection
* Location of car on public street/driveway
* Sound of voice/style of handwriting
* Paint on outside of car
Ex. Police search of garbage accidentally left on side of house. Owner had standing to object to search of garbage because garbage wasn’t set out on curb (doesn’t matter that he intended to put it on curb and got distracted/forgot).
Search - Open Fields
Under the open fields doctrine, is the search of a fenced-off property constitutional?
A person doesn’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy in land or field that isn’t part of the curtilage (“open fields”). Therefore, open fields, even if FENCED, are NOT protected by 4A.
Search
Do people have a privacy interest in the smell of one’s luggage?
NO, if luggage is in public place
Warrant Exceptions
When can police conduct warrantless search and seizure of items in one’s home?
Exigent circumstances
* Hot pursuit
* Fleeting evidence (destruction of evidence)
* Public safety (community caretaker)
Consent
Plain View
SILA
Standing
What happens if police seize evidence from a search of D’s person while he was hiding at his friend’s home + police searched friend’s home and found him without a warrant?
D does not have standing to complain of the illegal search so evidence is admissible. Police should’ve obtained search warrant to search friend’s home.
When is the search of a student’s backpack allowed?
When there are reasonable grounds for a search (by public school officials). Search is reasonable IF:
* (i) it offers moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing
* (ii) measures adopted to carry out search are reasonably related to objectives of search
* (iii) search is not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student + nature of the infraction
Rationale: Search without warrant/probable cause are allowed due to nature of school environment
When is the search of a student’s backpack allowed?
When there are reasonable grounds for a search (by public school officials). Search is reasonable IF:
* (i) it offers moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing
* (ii) measures adopted to carry out search are reasonably related to objectives of search
* (iii) search is not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student + nature of the infraction
Rationale: Search without warrant/probable cause are allowed due to nature of school environment
Search and Seizure Review
What is required for valid search warrant?
(a) Probable cause to believe seizable evidence will be found on person or premises
(b) Describe with particularity the place to be searched and items to be seized
(c) Neutral and detached magistrate (ex. not state attorney general)
For probable cause, officers must submit affidavit to magistrate stating circumstances that show probable cause (independent of officer’s conclusions)
* If affidavit based on informant’s tip, must consider informant’s reliability and credibility + basis for knowledge (totality of circumstances)
* Don’t need to reveal informant’s identity in affidavit
Evidence doesn’t need to be on premises at time warrant is issued (warrant can be anticipatory/predict when evidence will be on premises)
Reasonable Suspicion - Informant
What is the good faith exception for invalid warrants?
Evidence obtained by police in reasonable reliance on facially valid warrant can be used by prosecution even if warrant is later determined to not have probable cause.
Note that police must have actually gotten a warrant here (no good faith exception for failure to get a warrant)
Can warrant be obtained to search premises belonging to non-suspects?
YES, if there’s probable cause to believe evidence will be there
