4th Amendment Flashcards
Arrests - Definition
An arrest occurs when police take an individual into custody for purposes of criminal prosecution or interrogation
Arrests - Probable Cause
Always required
PC = trustworthy facts/knowledge sufficient for a reasonable person to believe that the suspect has committed or is planning to commit a crime
Arrests - Warrant Requirement
Police generally do not need a warrant before arresting a person in a public place
Arrests - Warrant Exception
Non-emergency home arrests require a warrant and reasonable belief suspect is at home
- i.e. police must have an arrest warrant to arrest an individual in their home; police may only enter the home if they have reason to believe the suspect is in the home
- Search warrant is required for police to execute an arrest of a suspect in a 3rd party’s home
- A warrant is not required for an emergency arrest occurring in the arrestee’s home
Detentions - Definition
A governmental seizure of a person that is less than a full custodial arrest
Detentions - 5 Common Govt. Detentions
1) Stop & Frisk
2) Automobile Stope
3) Stationhouse Detention
4) Detention to Obtain a Search Warrant
5) Detention of Occupants of a Premises
Automobile Stop - Requirements
Reasonable suspicion required
- to stop or pull over a vehicle, police must have reasonable suspicion that a law has been violated
Automobile Stop - Pretextual Stops
Ulterior motive for a stop is OK if police have reasonable suspicion of any legal violation
Automobile Stop - Accompanying Searches
Police may search:
1) Passengers and passenger compartment (but not the trunk) if officer reasonably believes weapons may be present (can order passengers out of the vehicle)
2) Entire car may be searched if probable cause arises pursuant to the automobile search exception
Police Checkpoints (2 Requirements)
A police checkpoint/roadblock that stops cars without individualized suspicion, must:
1) stop cars using a neutral, articulable standard (e.g. every fourth car); and
2) Serve purposes related to automobiles and their mobility
E.g. DUI checks relate to road safety, but drug checkpoints are insufficiently related to driving, and are thus unconstitutional
Determining the Validity of a Search or Seizure - General
Govt. searches and seizures of evidence must be reasonable under the 4th Amend, which requires a valid search warrant, unless one of six exceptions applies
Determining the Reasonableness of a Search or Seizure (4 Questions)
1) Is there govt. conduct constituting a search or seizure?
2) Does D have standing?
3) Is there a valid search warrant?
4) If there is no valid search warrant, was there a valid exception to the search warrant requirement?
6 Exceptions to the Search Warrant Requirement
1) Search incident to Arrest
2) Plain View Search
3) Automobile Search
4) Valid Consent to Search
5) Exigent Cicumstances
6) Stop & Frisk
Reasonable Expectation of Privacy - General
4th Amend only applies if a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding the thing or place searched and/or the items seized
- Standing to challenge a govt. search requires REOP (determined by the totality of the circumstances)
No REOP for Inherently Public Things
E.g. handwriting, voice, location, odors, public records, things viewable from public space, bank account records, smell of luggage
Areas outside the curtilage are unprotected by the 4th Amend (i.e. areas outside one’s home and outbuildings are subject to police search and seizures (e.g. garbage place on street))
Automatic Standing (2)
REOP always exists if D either:
1) Owns, has a right to posses, or lives in the premises to be searched, or
2) Is an overnight guest of the premises to be searched
Requirements for a Valid Search Warrant (3)
1) Based on Probable Cause: Usually, a police affidavit demonstrating probable cause that the search or seizure will produce evidence
2) Precise on its Face: Warrant must describe, with reasonable precision, the place to be searched and/or items to be seized
3) Issued by a neutral and detached magistrate
3 Things that Make a Warrant Invalid
Warrant invalid if (about affidavit):
1) there was a false statement
2) affiant intentionally or recklessly included a false statement; and
3) false statement was material to finding probable cause
Good Faith Exception
Exclusionary rule does not apply if police act in good faith on an invalid search warrant
Exceptions to GF Reliance (4)
Police cannot rely on a defective warrant obtained in good faith if:
a) affidavit completely lacks probable cause (i.e. no reasonable police officer would have relied on it)
b) Warrant is defective on its face
c) Police or govt. official lied or misled magistrate, or
d) Magistrate has “wholly abandoned her judicial role”
Execution of Search Warrants - Timing
Search warrant must be executed without unreasonable delay after it is issued
Execution of Search Warrants - Knock and Announce Requirement
Police must knock and announce their purpose, then wait a reasonable time for admittance before entering on their own accord
Execution of Search Warrants - Knock and Announce Exception
K and A is not required if officers have reasonable suspicion that announcing their presence would be dangerous, futile, or would inhibit the investigation
Execution of Search Warrants - Scope of Search
Limited to what is reasonably necessary to discover items described in the warrant
- Police can detain people found on the searched premises
- But police cannot search detained persons unless they are specifically named in the warrant or a valid warrantless search exception exists
