Criminal Procedure Flashcards
May law enforcement randomly stop vehicles on public roadways?
No. Police may generally not stop an automobile, even for a driving-related matter, without a reasonable, individualized suspicion of a violation of the law, unless the stop is effected on the basis of neutral, articulable standards.
May a checkpoint be used to search for individuals?
A checkpoint maintained by police for the purpose of finding witnesses to a crime (rather than suspects) is not per se unreasonable, as long as:
(i) the checkpoint stop’s primary law enforcement purpose is to elicit evidence to help them apprehend not the vehicle’s occupants but other individuals; (ii) the stop advanced a public concern to a significant degree; and (iii) the police appropriately tailored their checkpoint stops to fit important criminal investigatory needs and to minimally interfere with liberties protected by the Fourth Amendment.
How is the privilege against self-incrimination invoked?
By defendant: Privilege invoked by refusing to take the stand.
By non-defendant witnesses: May be compelled to take the stand and can invoke the privilege only in response to a specific question when there is some reasonable possibility that answering the question will incriminate the witness.
How is “custody” defined for purposes of Miranda?
Custody is either a formal arrest or a restraint on freedom of movement to the degree associated with a formal arrest. If there has been no formal arrest, the question is whether a reasonable person would have believed he could leave, given the totality of the circumstances.
At what critical stages is there a Sixth Amendment right to counsel?
Generally, there is a Sixth Amendment right to counsel at the following critical stages:
1. Post-indictment lineups and in-person identifications
2. Post-indictment interrogations, whether custodial or otherwise
3. Arraignment and preliminary hearings to determine probable cause to prosecute, bail hearings, and pre-trial motions
4. Plea bargaining, guilty pleas, trials, and sentencing
Note: The right does not apply to post-conviction proceedings, but direct appeals as a matter of right do require that the state provide counsel to the indigent on equal protection grounds.
What is the test to determine whether a person has been “seized” for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment?
A seizure occurs only if, in view of the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable innocent person would believe he was not free to leave.
Note: The police officer must intentionally employ physical force or a show of authority in order for the officer’s actions to result in a seizure, but the officer need not intend to detain the defendant.
What four warnings are required by Miranda before custodial interrogation begins?
Law-enforcement officials must inform suspects:
(i) Of their right to remain silent;
(ii) That any statement uttered may be used in court;
(iii) Of their right to consult an attorney and to have the attorney present during an interrogation; and
(iv) That an attorney will be appointed to represent indigent defendants.
When are the fruits of a non-Mirandized confession admissible?
Derivative physical evidence obtained as a result of a non-Mirandized confession is admissible, so long as that confession was not coerced.
What is the effect of the plain view doctrine on items (1) in public view, and (2) in private view?
(1) Items may be seized without a warrant because one cannot have a reasonable expectation of privacy in things that are exposed to the public.
(2) Police may seize the item as long as (i) the officer is lawfully on the premises, (ii) the incriminating character of the item is immediately apparent, and (iii) the officer has lawful access to the item.
How is a prima facie case for absence of a representative cross-section in a jury established?
By showing that:
(i) The group allegedly excluded is a “distinctive” group in the community;
(ii) The group was not fairly represented in the venire from which the jury was chosen; and
(iii) The underrepresentation resulted from a systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process.
What is required for a defendant to have standing to challenge governmental conduct as a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures?
(i) The defendant himself has been seized; or
(ii) He has a reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to the place searched or the item seized.
Note: It is not enough that the introduction as evidence of an item seized may incriminate the defendant or that the evidence was seized from a co-conspirator.
How is the right to counsel invoked under the Fifth Amendment, and what is the effect of invoking this right?
A suspect must make a specific, unambiguous statement asserting his desire to have counsel present. Once that right to counsel is invoked, all interrogation must stop until counsel is present.
Note: If a suspect makes an ambiguous statement regarding the right to counsel, the police are not required to end the interrogation or to ask questions or clarify whether the suspect wants to invoke the right.
Do prison inmates have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cells?
Prison inmates have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their cells. The limitations on Fourth Amendment rights are justified by the need to maintain institutional security and preserve internal order and discipline.
Note: Unlike a convicted inmate, a pretrial detainee may have a limited expectation of privacy in his cell. However, a detainee’s cell may be subject to a routine search, and the detainee’s person may be subject to a strip search or a full-body search after a contact visit with someone from the outside.
What are the seven types of exceptions to the search warrant requirement?
(1) Searches incident to a lawful arrest
(2) Exigent circumstances
(3) Stop and frisk (i.e., Terry stops)
(4) Automobiles
(5) The “plain view” doctrine
(6) Consent searches
(7) Administrative, special needs, and inventory searches
What is curtilage and why is it important?
In addition to the home itself, an area immediately surrounding the home known as the “curtilage” may be covered by the “umbrella” of the home’s Fourth Amendment protection. In determining whether the area is protected, the following four-factor test applies:
(i) The proximity of the area to the home;
(ii) Whether the area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home;
(iii) The nature of the uses to which the area is put; and
(iv) The steps taken by the resident to protect the area from observation by passersby.
What is a fly-over, and does it constitute a search for Fourth Amendment purposes?
A fly-over is an inspection conducted from at least 400 feet in the air by an airplane or a helicopter. It does not violate a reasonable expectation of privacy and therefore is not a search for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment.
What is the privilege against self-incrimination, and to what evidence and proceedings does it apply?
No person shall be compelled in a criminal case to testify against himself. It protects only testimonial evidence, and applies in any proceeding if the answers provide some reasonable possibility of incriminating the witness in future criminal proceedings.
When does a defendant have a right to a jury trial?
In the federal system, the Sixth Amendment provides the right to jury trials.
In states, the Fourteenth Amendment provides jury trials in criminal cases involving non-petty offenses (i.e., those that carry an authorized sentence of more than six months of imprisonment, regardless of the actual penalty imposed).
What is the court required to find in order to accept a criminal defendant’s guilty plea?
The judge must determine that the plea is both intelligent and voluntary.
Voluntary: The plea did not result from force or improper threats or from promises other than those contained in the plea agreement.
Intelligent: The defendant knows and understands (i) the nature of the charges and their essential elements, (ii) the consequences of the plea, and (iii) the rights that the defendant is waiving.
What are the seven exceptions to the exclusionary rule?
(1) Inevitable discovery rule - the evidence would have been inevitably discovered in the same condition through lawful means
(2) Independent source doctrine - the evidence was discovered in part by an independent source unrelated to the tainted evidence.
(3) Attenuation principle - the chain of causation between the primary taint and the evidence has been so attenuated, by time and/or intervening events, as to “purge” the taint.
(4) Good-faith exception - police officers acted in good faith on either a facially valid warrant or an existing law later declared unconstitutional.
(5) Isolated police negligence - the police conduct was not sufficiently deliberate such that the exclusionary rule could deter it.
(6) Knock and Announce - the search was a violation of the “knock and announce” rule.
(7) In-court Identification - the evidence is a witness’s in-court identification of the defendant.
Does a motel or hotel patron have an expectation of privacy in the rented room?
As with the search of a home, the search of a motel room by a government agent may be an unreasonable search. The patron enjoys a reasonable expectation of privacy for the duration of the rental agreement.
Note: A motel clerk’s consent to a governmental search of a room during the time it is rented is insufficient to justify the search.
What are the requirements of a valid search warrant?
A valid search warrant must be issued by a neutral and detached magistrate based on probable cause, must be supported by oath or affidavit, and must describe the places to be searched and the items to be seized.
What is meant by “open fields” for Fourth Amendment considerations?
Private property that lies outside the curtilage of a home, such as a farmer’s field, is not protected by the home’s umbrella of Fourth Amendment protection. Under the “open fields” doctrine, governmental intrusion on such property is not a search.
Note: The owner does not have a reasonable (i.e., objective) expectation of privacy, even though the owner may have a subjective expectation of privacy based on the fact that the land is fenced, protected from public view, and “no trespassing” signs are posted.
Are searches conducted by private citizens prohibited by the Fourth Amendment?
No, the Fourth Amendment applies to government action, not searches made by private citizens.
The police may not circumvent the Fourth Amendment by intentionally enlisting private individuals to conduct a search of a suspect or areas in which the suspect has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
What is the generally permitted scope of a warrantless search made incident to a lawful arrest?
A lawful arrest justifies a warrantless contemporaneous search of the person arrested and his “wingspan” (i.e., the immediately surrounding area from which a weapon may be concealed or evidence destroyed).
When and how may statements obtained in violation of Miranda be used at trial?
Voluntary and trustworthy statements may be used as impeachment evidence.
What is a “protective sweep,” and when is it permitted?
A “protective sweep” is a quick and limited visual inspection of places immediately adjacent to the place of an arrest in which a person might be hiding. It is permitted as a search incident to a lawful arrest that occurs in a home, even without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.
When is a defendant unable to suppress evidence seized in a search of the defendant’s property pursuant to a third party’s consent?
The defendant can generally suppress evidence seized during such a search unless:
(i) An agency relationship exists between the third party and the defendant that gives to the third party the right to consent on behalf of the defendant; or
(ii) The defendant otherwise gives the third party such rights with respect to the property that the defendant assumes the risk that the third party would allow the property to be searched.
When may police stop an automobile at a checkpoint without reasonable, individualized suspicion of a violation of the law?
Police may stop an automobile at a checkpoint without reasonable, individualized suspicion of a violation of the law if the stop is based on neutral, articulable standards and its purpose is closely related to an issue affecting automobiles.
A roadblock to perform sobriety checks has been upheld, while a similar roadblock to perform drug checks has not.
Name the five situations where the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule does not apply.
If:
(i) No reasonable officer would rely on the affidavit underlying the warrant;
(ii) The warrant is defective on its face;
(iii) The warrant was obtained by fraud;
(iv) The magistrate has “wholly abandoned his judicial role”; or
(v) The warrant was improperly executed.
What is a “stop,” and when is it justified?
A stop (i.e., Terry stop) is limited and temporary intrusion on an individual’s freedom of movement short of a full custodial arrest.
A stop is justified on the reasonable suspicion, based upon articulable facts and the totality of the circumstances, that the detainees are or were involved in illegal activity.
What is the “knock and announce” rule?
When executing either a search or an arrest warrant, a police officer must generally announce his purpose before entering.
Note: Violation of the “knock and announce” rule does not trigger the exclusionary rule.
When does the Sixth Amendment right to counsel apply to eyewitness identifications?
A defendant is entitled to have counsel present at any post-indictment lineup or show-up in which the defendant is required to participate. The right to counsel does not apply to any pre-indictment lineup or to non-corporeal identifications (e.g., photo arrays).
What are the five rights guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment?
(1) The right to a public trial;
(2) The right to confront witnesses against him,
(3) The right to cross-examine witnesses;
(4) The right to be present at his own trial, and
(5) The right to the assistance of counsel for his defense.
When is a warrantless search of a vehicle permitted as a search incident to a lawful arrest?
When law enforcement demonstrate either that:
(i) The arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment and may pose an actual and continuing threat to the officer’s safety or a need to preserve evidence from being tampered with by the arrestee; or
(ii) That it is reasonable that evidence of the offense of arrest might be found in the vehicle.
When does “hot pursuit” constitute an exigent circumstance that excuses the search warrant requirement?
When the police have probable cause to believe that an individual has committed a felony and they are pursuing him to arrest him.
If the police have probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a misdemeanor, then the police may act without waiting for a warrant if the totality of the circumstances shows an emergency.
