4th Amendment Flashcards
4th Amendment applies:
If a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the thing or places being searched
4th Amendment
Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government or its agents
Arrests
Probable cause (reasonable person would believe that the suspect has committed or is planning to commit a crime) is always required
Automobile Stops
Reasonable suspicion is required
*Officer may search passengers and passengers compartments if officer reasonably believes weapons may be present
Determining reasonableness of search/seizure
(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?
No reasonable expectation of privacy in:
voice, things viewable to the public, smells, areas outside the curtilage
Automatic reasonable expectation of privacy exists when:
(a) D owns, has right to possess, or lives in the premises to be searched
(b) is an overnight guest of the premises to be searched
Requirement for valid search warrant
(1) based on probable cause
(2) precise on its face
(3) issued by a neutral and detached magistrate
Execution of Search Warrant
(1) Search warrant must be executed without unreasonable delay after it is issued
(2) police must knock and announce their purpose, then wait reasonable time for admittance before entering on their own accord
(3) scope of search is limited to what is reasonably necessary to discover what is described in the warrnat
Exception to knock and announce rule
Not required if police officers have reasonable suspicion that announcing their presence would be dangerous, futile, or would inhibit the investigation
Valid Warrantless Searches
(1) Search incident to lawful arrest
(2) Plain View Search
(3) Automobile Search
(4) Valid consent to Search
(5) Exigent Circumstances
(6) Stop and Frisk
Valid Warrantless Search: Search incident to lawful arrest
Police may search a lawfully arrested person and immediate surrounding area without a warrant if:
(1) arrest was lawful
(2) search is contemporaneous with the arrest
(3) search must be limited to area within the suspect’s reach or movement
Automobile search incident to lawful arrest
May search car and glove box if at the time of the search:
(a) arrestee is unsecured and may access the vehicle interior
(b) they reasonably believe evidence of the crime for which the arrest was made may be found in the vehicle
Valid Warrantless Search: Plain View Search
(1) police are legitimately on the premises from which they viewed the evidence to be seized
(2) criminal activity or contraband is immediately apparent
(3) probable cause to believe that plainly viewed evidence is contraband or relates to a crime
Valid Warrantless Search: Limitations to Plain View Search
Police cannot use technology not generally available to the public to view evidence that may constitute a plain view search
Valid Warrantless Search: Consent to Search
(1) Consent is voluntarily and intelligently made
(2) The person giving the consent has authority to consent
Valid Warrantless Search: Automobile
(1) Police have probable cause to search the vehicle
(2) Probable cause must arise before the search begins
Valid Warrantless Searches: Stop & Frisk
Reasonable suspicion required
*Detention must be no longer necessary to verify the suspicion
*If police have reasonable suspicion the person is armed or dangerous, they may frisk for weapons (CANNOT manipulate the item to develop reasonable belief)
Valid Warrantless Search: Exigent Circumstances
Hot pursuit - while actively pursuing a fleeing felon, police can search for anything relating to the pursuit or can search for their own protection
Evanescent evidence - police can search or seize evidence that could disappear if police were required to secure a warrant
Exclusionary Rule
Prohibits the introduction of evidence obtained illegally
Exceptions to Exclusionary Rule
(1) Independent source - govt had independent source for obtaining the evidence
(2) inevitable discovery - govt would have discovered illegally derived evidence even without illegal conduct
(3) attenuation - where evidence challenged is too remote and attenuated from unlawful search or seizure
Remedy for Exclusionary Rule
For admission of illegally seized evidence to be upheld, govt must show that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt
