C/P cont Flashcards
4th amendment
unreasonable search and seizure
5th amendment
privilege against compulsory self-incrimination
privilege against compulsory self-incrimination
6th amendment
speedy trial
public trial
trial by jury
confront witnesses
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses
assistance of counsel
8th amendment
prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment
prohibition against excessive fines
The right to indictment by a grand jury for capital and infamous
crimes has been held
not to be binding on the states.
The Fourth Amendment provides that people should be free from
unreasonable searches and seizures. _____by a
government agent over a person or thing is a seizure.
Governmental
seizures of persons, including arrests, are seizures within the scope of the Fourth Amendment and so must be reasonable.
Any exercise of control
A seizure occurs when
under the totality of the circumstances, a
reasonable person would feel that they were not free to decline the
officer’s requests or otherwise terminate the encounter
An arrest occurs when
the police take a person into custody against
their will for purposes of criminal prosecution or interrogation
An arrest must be based on probable cause—that is,
trustworthy
facts or knowledge sufficient for a reasonable person to believe that
the suspect has committed or is committing a crime for which arrest
is authorized by law. Probable cause is based on the totality of the
circumstances.
A warrant generally is not required before arresting a person in
a public place. However, police generally ___
must have a warrant to
effect a nonemergency arrest of a person in their home. The officers
executing the warrant may enter the suspect’s home only if there is
reason to believe the suspect is within it
Police must _____to bring a suspect to
the station for questioning or fingerprinting against the person’s will.
have full probable cause for arrest
An _____, by itself, has no impact on any subsequent
criminal prosecution.
unlawful arrest
The police have the authority to briefly detain a person even if they lack probable cause to arrest. If the police have a ______ of criminal activity or involvement in a completed crime,
supported by _____(that is, not merely a hunch), they may
detain a person for investigative purposes. If the police also have
reasonable suspicion that the detainee is_____,
they may frisk the detainee for weapons.
reasonable suspicion
articulable facts
armed and dangerous
Reasonable suspicion is
more than just vague suspicion but is less
than probable cause.
Whether the police have reasonable suspicion
depends on
the totality of the circumstances.
When reasonable suspicion is based on an informant’s tip, there must
be
an indicia of reliability (including predictive information) to be
sufficient.
Investigatory stops are not subject to a specific time limit. The police
must act in a
diligent and reasonable manner in confirming or
dispelling their suspicions. The police may ask the detained person
to identify themself (that is, state their name) and generally may arrest
the detainee for failure to comply with such a request. The detention
will also turn into an arrest if during the detention other probable
cause for arrest arises.
Brief property seizures are similarly valid if based on
reasonable
suspicion.
Generally, police officers may stop a car if they have
at least reasonable suspicion to believe that a law has been violated.
During routine traffic stops,_______, so long
as the police do not extend the stop beyond the time needed to
issue a ticket or conduct normal inquiries.
Moreover, in 2013 the
Supreme Court held that during such a traffic stop, a dog “alert” to the presence of drugs can form the basis for probable cause for a search.
**But note: In 2013, the Supreme Court also held that the police
(without probable cause) cannot use a drug sniffing dog outside of
the home of a suspected drug dealer.
a dog sniff is not a search
A police officer’s mistake of law (for example, mistakenly believing that a vehicle must have two working brake lights) does not invalidate
a seizure as long as the mistake was
reasonable.
An automobile stop constitutes a seizure not only of the automobile’s
driver, but also of any passengers as well. Thus,
passengers have
standing to raise a wrongful stop as a reason to exclude evidence
found during the stop
If the police set up a roadblock for purposes other than seeking
incriminating information about the drivers stopped, the roadblock
will be constitutional. If special law enforcement needs are involved,
the Supreme Court allows police officers to set up roadblocks to stop
cars without individualized suspicion that the driver violated some
law. To be valid, the roadblock must
- Stop cars on the basis of some neutral, articulable standard (for
example, every car) and - Be designed to serve purposes closely related to a particular
problem pertaining to automobiles and their mobility
After lawfully stopping a vehicle, in the interest of officer safety, the
officer may
order the occupants of the vehicle to get out.
Moreover,
if the officer reasonably believes the detainees are armed, the officer
may frisk the occupants and search the passenger compartment for
weapons, even after the officer has ordered the occupants out
If the police have probable cause to believe a driver violated a traffic
law, they may stop the car, even if
their ulterior motive is to investigate a crime for which they lack sufficient cause to make a stop.
Like arrests, evidentiary searches and seizures must be reasonable
to be valid under the Fourth Amendment, but here reasonableness
requires a warrant except in six circumstances. Evidentiary search
and seizure issues should be approached using the following analytical model:
1) governmental conduct
2) standing
3) valid warrant
4) exceptions to warrant req
governmental conduct
police officers
government agents
private individuals acting at direction of police
There are two ways in which searches and seizures can implicate
an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights:
(1) search or seizure by a
government agent of a constitutionally protected area in which the
individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy; or (2) physical
intrusion by the government into a constitutionally protected area to
obtain information.
standing to object
reasonable expectation of privacy w respect to place searched or item seized
when person has reasonable expectation of privacy
person owned or had right to possess place searched\
place searched is persons home
person is overnight guest of owner
there is no right to privacy in
sound of your voice
style of your handwriting
paint on outside of your car
account records held by bank
location of car on public street or driveway
anything seen across open fields
odors from luggage or car
garbage set out on curb for collection
Use of sense-enhancing technology that is not in general
public use (for example, a thermal imager as opposed to a telephoto
camera lens) to obtain information from inside a suspect’s home that
could not otherwise be obtained without physical intrusion violates
the suspect’s legitimate expectation of privacy.
And police officers
may not covertly and trespassorily place a GPS tracking device on a
person’s automobile without a warrant.
Generally, criminal law enforcement officers must have a warrant to
conduct a search unless it falls within one of the six exceptions to the
warrant requirement. There are two core requirements for a facially
valid search warrant:
probable cause and particularity
A warrant will be issued only if there is probable cause to believe
that seizable evidence will be found on the person or premises at the
time the warrant is executed. Officers must
submit to a magistrate
an affidavit setting forth circumstances enabling the magistrate to
make a determination of probable cause independent of the officers’
conclusions
An affidavit based on an informer’s tip must meet the “totality of the
circumstances” test. Under this test, the informant’s ______are relevant factors in making
this determination. Note that the informer’s identity generally need
not be revealed.
reliability and
credibility or their basis for knowledge
A search warrant issued on the basis of an affidavit will be held
invalid if the defendant establishes all three of the following:
A false statement was included in the affidavit by the affiant (the
officer applying for the warrant)
* The affiant intentionally or recklessly included the false statement; and
* The false statement was material to the finding of probable
cause
particularity
warrant must describe w particularity place to be searched and items to be seized
A warrant can predict when illegal items may be in a suspect’s home
or office. The items need
not be on the premises at the time the
warrant is issued
A warrant may be obtained to search premises belonging to nonsuspects, as long as
there is probable cause to believe that evidence will
be found there.
warrant execution
only police may execute warrant
no third parties unless identifying stolen property
violation of knock and announce rule will not result in suppression of evidence
search incident to arrest
police can search after valid arrest
police can make protective sweep of area
search must be contemporaneous in time and place w arrest
If an arrest is unconstitutional, any search incident to that arrest
is
also unconstitutional.
The police may conduct a search of the passenger compartment of
an automobile incident to arrest only if at the time of the search:
The arrestee is unsecured and still may gain access to the interior
of the vehicle; or
The police reasonably believe that evidence of the offense for
which the person was arrested may be found in the vehicle
What can be searched? The person and the
the areas within the person’s
wingspan.
In assessing the validity of a search incident to arrest involving things
that did not exist when the Fourth Amendment was adopted (for
example, cell phones, blood alcohol tests), the court will
balance
the degree to which the search incident to arrest intrudes upon a
person’s privacy against the degree to which the search is needed to
promote legitimate governmental interests.
technological searches
warrantless breath test permitted but not blood test
physical attributes of cell phone may be searched but not data
at the police station, the police may make an inventory search of
_______pursuant to established department
procedure. Similarly, the police may make an inventory search of an
impounded vehicle
the arrestee’s belongings
automobile exception
if police have probable cause to believe vehicle contains fruits instrumentalities or evidence of a crime they may search entire vehicle and any container that might reasonably contain the item
The search may extend to _____belonging to a passenger; it is
not limited to the driver’s belongings.
packages
If the police have probable cause only to search a container in a
vehicle (for example, luggage recently placed in the trunk), they may
search _______
only the container, not other parts of the vehicle.
automobile exception PC necessary to justify search of car can arise after
car is stopped
plain view exception; police may make a warrantless seizure when:
legitimately on the premises
discover evidence contraband or fruits or instrumentalities of crime
see evidence in plain view
have probable cause to believe item is evidence contraband or fruits or instrumentalities of crime
A warrantless search is valid if the police have ____
a voluntary consent
person w apparent equal right to use or occupy property may consent
however occupant cant give valid consent when
co-occupant is present and objects
if co-occupant is removed for unrelated reason, police may act on consent of
remaining occupant
terry stop
brief detention for purpose of investigating suspicious conduct
terry frisk
pat down of outer clothing and body to check for weapons
terry frisk; officer may seize any item that officer reasonably believes, based on plain feel
is weapon or contraband
If a vehicle is properly stopped for a traffic violation and the officer
reasonably believes that a driver or passenger may be armed and
dangerous, the officer may
(1) conduct a frisk of the suspected
person, and (2) search the vehicle, so long as it is limited to the areas
in which weapon may be placed.
However, if the fleeing person is suspected of a _____, their
flight does not always justify a warrantless entry into a home.
misdemeanor
Evanescent evidence is evidence that might _____ if the
police took the time to get a warrant. For example, a police officer
can scrape under a suspect’s fingernails without getting a warrant
because if the officer took the time to get a warrant the defendant
might go wash their hands.
disappear quickly
Police in hot pursuit of a _____ may make a warrantless search
and seizure and may even pursue the suspect into a private dwelling.
The
officer must consider all the circumstances to determine whether there is a law enforcement emergency that justifies a warrantless
entry.
Rule of thumb: If the police are not within 15 minutes behind the
fleeing felon, it is not a hot pursuit that falls under the exception.
fleeing felon
emergency aid/ community caretaker exception
police may enter premises w/o warrant if officer faces emergency that threatens health or safety
A warrant or probable cause is not required for public school officials
to search public school students or their possessions; only reasonable grounds for the search are necessary. A school search will be
held to be reasonable only if:
It offers a moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing
The measures adopted to carry out the search are reasonably
related to the objectives of the search; and
The search is not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex
of the student and nature of the infraction
unreliable ear
speaker assumes risk other person consents to gov monitoring or is an informer
uninvited ear
speaker has no 4th amendment claim if they make no attempt to keep conversation private
confession must be voluntary
voluntariness determined by totality of circumstances
harmless error test applies-> conviction need not be overturned if overwhelming evidence of guilt
6th amendment right to counsel
applies to all critical stages of prosecution after judicial proceedings have begun