Constitutional Definition of Search Flashcards
Authority to search is regulated by the ______ amendment and article ___ of the Massachusetts declaration of _____
Fourth amendment
Article 14
Declaration of Rights
The constitutional provisions fundamentally insist that law-enforcement base their searches on _______
Probable cause
The process of obtaining a warrant protects:
Citizens
Private citizens become police agents when they are ______, ______ or ______ by police
Instigated
Directed
Encouraged
If a citizen conducts their own search, not directed by the police, can they later be rewarded?
Yes, including reduced sentence
Medical personnel are not considered police agents if their procedures were undertaken for ______ and not to benefit Police
Treatment
If a surgeon removes a bullet from the defendant and turns it over to Police, is he now considered a police agent
No, because it was medically necessary to remove it
Does a hospital blood test, proving the defendants intoxication at his oui trial considered evidence or medically necessary
Medically necessary
Private security is typically unregulated by the constitution. If an off-duty police officer is working a private security job, are they more subject to regulation?
No
If a college student allows campus security to enter his room, does that permission automatically extend to police officers upon their arrival?
No
A person conducting a search is not automatically a state actor just because they are employed by the government. State action was meant to apply to government employees whose duties involve:
Enforcing the law or administering a local code where a violation might subject the offender to punishment
Is a meter reader for the electric department a state agent?
No
In cases where a municipal worker uncovers evidence officers should limit themselves to examining the evidence already discovered and then:
Get a warrant to search further
Public school administrators must follow some constitutional guidelines because their investigations may:
Have criminal consequences
While they don’t need a warrant school officials must have ________ in order to search
Reasonable suspicion
School officials methods of search must be appropriate given (4):
- Objectives of search-what they are looking for
- Nature of offense
- Students age
- Students sex
Does the constitution regulate the searching activities of private school officials?
No just public
The fourth amendment and article 14 protect what three areas?
A citizens:
body
home
possessions
Officers may not search a citizens, body home or possessions unless they have legal justification, including (3):
Warrant
Consent
Exception to the warrant requirement
Do you need constitutional justification to enter non-private areas?
No
Officers must have ______ to search a persons body for evidence
Probable cause
Officers must have _______ to frisk for their own protection
Reasonable suspicion
Does viewing a persons shoes, including the bottom, constitute a search
No
Is asking a suspect to lift their foot up so you can see the bottom of their shoes constitute a search
No
A suspect lifts their foot up to show officers the bottom of their shoe. It is consistent with the shoe print found at a crime scene. What should officers do?
They now have probable cause so they should seize the shoe
When clothing is removed at the hospital under what circumstances does the patient have an expectation of privacy regarding seizing or searching their clothing?
Citizens have an expectation of privacy for their clothing when it is removed for safekeeping (for example removed prior to surgery wi the expectation they will get it back after treatment)
No expectation of privacy when clothing is cut off for emergency treatment
Heightened security is permitted in areas where citizens expect less privacy classic examples include:
Metal detectors at airports, schools, and government buildings
Border searches by federal agents
Do citizens have a reduced expectation of privacy just because they are convicted
Yes
A person on probation may be searched by a ____________ on the basis of ______
Probation officer or police officer assisting the probation officer
Reasonable suspicion
If the search of a probationer occurs inside their home, what is necessary?
A warrant
In order for probation officers to search a probationers cell phone, they should get consent or obtain a warrant based on ________
Reasonable suspicion
______ may conduct warrantless search of home
Parole
Parole can always search a parolees’s home without a warrant if they have reasonable suspicion that there is evidence of a _____
Parole violation
A prisoner is being held in a jail when they become the suspect for a murder. Can officers seize their sneakers to look for the victims DNA or do they need a warrant?
They can seize the sneakers. Even if policy allows for the sneakers to be kept on prisoners. That is a privilege that could be withdrawn at any time
A warrantless search of a probationers home is permitted based on:
Reasonable suspicion
The greatest constitutional protection extends to a ______
Home
Is a hotel or motel room considered a dwelling
Yes
The home is historically referred to as the:
Curtilage
For a hotel or motel guest, they lose their expectation of privacy once their:
Rental period is terminated
Does eviction by innkeepers at a hotel require advance notice to the guest?
No
Is a college dorm considered a dwelling?
Yes
Is backyard considered within the cartilage?
Yes typically
Does using binoculars as an individual enters exits their home infringe on privacy
No
Does using binoculars to observe activities in a home infringe on privacy
Yes
Does aerial surveillance infringe on privacy?
Not if it’s from a reasonable altitude consistent with FAA regulations
Is helicopter surveillance from an altitude of 25 feet unreasonable and illegal
Yes
Police need _______ to try a key in a lock of a private home
Reasonable suspicion
Do police violate residents privacy when they use technology like thermal imaging?
Yes if used to learn about activities inside the home
The dominant factor for abandoned property (2)
The place where the property is found and
The suspect’s relationship with that place
Police searches and entries for PERSON (4)
(FCSC)
Frisk
Consent
Search incident to arrest
Community caretaker
Police searches and entries for VEHICLE (4)
(FCMI)
Frisk
Consent
Motor Vehicle Exception
Inventory
Police searches and entries for HOME (4)
(CEEW)
Consent
Emergency Aid
Exigent Circumstances
Warrant
The three prong test for Plain View
Lawful presence
Inadvertence
Apparent evidence
The heart of plain view is
Lawful presence
What does the inadvertence rule do?
Forces officers who possess probable cause to obtain a warrant
The inadvertence rule never applies to (3):
Contraband
Stolen goods
Dangerous objects
When is the inadvertence rule typically an issue?
When police failed to mention a particular object in their warrant application, even though they had probable cause for it
Regarding apparent evidence, what 3 things should obviously be seized when observed
Contraband
Fruits of the crime
Instrumentalities
Officers must have _______ to believe items are related to crime in order to seize them
Probable cause
