Criminal Due Process Midterm Short Answers

Question 1

Dunn Curtilage Factors

Answer 1

1. The distance from the home to the area of consideration
2. Whether the area of consideration is in an enclosure surrounding the home
3. The nature of the use of the area of consideration
4. The steps taken by the resident to protect the area of consideration from observation by people passing by

Question 2

The distance from the home to the area of consideration

Answer 2

The closer the area is to the home, the more likely it is to be curtilage; other than that, anything 50-60 yards away is likely to be considered curtilage

Question 3

Whether the area of consideration is in an enclosure surrounding the home

Answer 3

If the home is enclosed by a fence, anything within the fence is considered curtilage

Question 4

The nature of the use of the area of consideration

Answer 4

Anything that extends the intimate going ons of the home may be considered curtilage

Question 5

The steps taken by the resident to protect the area of consideration from observation by people passing by

Answer 5

Is the fence made of wire? Is the fence 3 ft high? Areas are not considered curtilage if they can be viewed in the open

Question 6

Explain the dissipation of the taint

Answer 6

If there is no connection between the initial illegality and the evidence, the evidence is said to become so “attenuated,” or removed from, the illegality that the taint is dissipated—the evidence is no longer tainted by the illegality

Question 7

List the 4 factors evaluated in determining whether dissipation of the taint exists

Answer 7

1. Temporal proximity of the arrest and the confession (amount of time between)
2. The presence of the act of free will
3. The presence or absence of intervening circumstances
4. The purpose and flagrancy of the misconduct (how bad was the initial illegality?)

Question 8

Describe the standard in evaluating expectation of privacy prior to Katz

Answer 8

Trespass Doctrine of was used to evaluate expectation of privacy; the Trespass Doctrine says that evidence obtained by an officer trespassing on a person’s property without a warrant would be inadmissible in court

Question 9

State the holding of Katz and how it impacted the prior standard in evaluating expectation of privacy

Answer 9

Despite there being no physical intrusion into the phone booth that Katz was conducting his illegality from, USSC held that the placement of a recording device on the phone booth was considered a search. This introduces the 2 Part Test which is an “and” test that says a person needs to have exhibited an actual expectation of privacy AND that expectation must be one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable. Katz overrules the Trespass Doctrine for a limited amount of time

Question 10

State the holding in Jones and explain if it impacted any of the prior standards in evaluating expectation of privacy

Answer 10

Jones holds that the use of a GPS tracker attached to a vehicle constitutes a search under the Trespass Doctrine. The Supreme Court ruled that Katz never intended to fully overrule the Trespass Doctrine, but that the two tests should be used in tandem. The Jones holding impacts the prior standards of the Trespass Doctrine and the Katz 2 Part Test in that the two are now used in tandem when deciding whether or not something constitutes a search when considering reasonable expectations of privacy

Question 11

Define and explain the fruit of the poisonous tree

Answer 11

Fruit of the poisonous tree is a doctrine that extends the exclusionary rule to make evidence inadmissible in court if it was derived from evidence that was illegally obtained. The “tree” would be the initial police illegality, and the “fruit” would be evidence obtained as a result of that illegality

Question 12

Give an example and case name of fruit of the poisonous tree

Answer 12

Silverthorne—federal law enforcement officials search the offices of Silverthorne without a warrant and seize company documents that are later photocopied. District attorneys later claimed to have found evidence of more crimes in the photocopies of the documents and framed a new indictment against the Silverthornes based on that information. In this Supreme Court case, the District Attorney was not allowed to frame the new indictment because when federal law enforcement obtained the company documents, they did so without a warrant, making the search illegal. Under fruit of the poisonous tree the search would be considered the tree, the initial illegality. Both the documents obtained and the photocopies made would be evidence obtained as a direct result of the initial illegality, making them the fruit of the poisonous tree. Therefore, the District Attorney could not use information obtained from the poisonous fruit to frame a new indictment.

Question 13

List and explain the 2 parts of the Katz test. Include when it is used or applied

Answer 13

1. A person has to have exhibited an actual expectation of privacy
2. The expectation must be one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable
   The test determines whether an action by the government has violated an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy
   This is an AND test; both parts must be applicable in order to determine if there has been a search in the constitutional sense