Criminal Procedure - Tibbs

Question 1

The Fourth Amendment

Answer 1

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Question 2

Weeks

Answer 2

Adopted an exclusionary rule: evidence illegally obtained in violation of the fundamental guarantees of the Fourth Amendment shall not be used in legal proceedings against the Defendant, but applicability at the state level is left open to the states.

Question 3

Wolf

Answer 3

The exclusionary rule need not apply automatically in state court because other methods serve to deter oppressive police conduct which are not applicable in federal court.

Question 4

Mapp

Answer 4

All evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Constitution is, by that same authority, inadmissible in a state court.

Question 5

Leon

Answer 5

There is a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule: Evidence obtained in reasonable, good faith reliance on a facially valid search warrant is not subject to the exclusionary rule, even if the warrant is later deemed defective.

Question 6

Herring

Answer 6

Reaffirms Leon, but provides that police misconduct must be sufficiently deliberate that exclusion acts as a deterrent, and must be sufficiently culpable that the deterrence is worth the price paid by the criminal justice system.

Question 7

Kyllo

Answer 7

The Fourth Amendment draws a firm line at the entrance of a house: any physical invasion, even by a fraction of an inch, is too much, and the government cannot use advanced technology to get around this rule.

Question 8

White

Answer 8

There is no privacy interest in what a third party does with your private information if they are a party to the conversation.

Question 9

Katz

Answer 9

To have an EoP, a person must subjectively believe they have one, outwardly manifest the expectation through affirmative actions, and that expectation must be one that society is prepared to recognize as objectively reasonable (legitimate).

Question 10

Greenwood

Answer 10

There is no legitimate EoP in trash.

Question 11

Riley

Answer 11

There is no EoP from aerial surveillance or open fields, which need neither be open nor a field.

Question 12

Dunn

Answer 12

Even if property is within the curtilage, a physical inspection from outside the curtilage does not constitute a search.

Question 13

Dunn Factors

Answer 13

1. The proximity of the area claimed to be curtilage to the home
2. Whether the area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home
3. The nature of the uses of the area
4. The steps taken by the resident to protect the area from observation of people passing by.

Question 14

Johnson

Answer 14

Police are allowed to draw inferences of criminal activity based on their experience and knowledge, but those inferences only assist in establishing PC.

Question 15

Spinelli

Answer 15

If an affidavit for a search warrant is based on an informant’s tip, then it must satisfy the two-prong test of credibility and basis of knowledge.

Question 16

Gates

Answer 16

A magistrate may issue a search warrant if the totality of the circumstances presented in the affidavit indicate PC for the search, and even if the Spinelli prongs cannot be independently satisfied, PC exists if there is a fair probability of criminal activity– representing a “practical, non-technical conception.”

Question 17

Gates Fair Probability Factors

Answer 17

1. Nature of the information (suspicion vs. observation)
2. Whether there has been an opportunity for the police to see or hear the matter reported
3. The veracity and the basis of the informant’s knowledge
4. Whether there has been an independent verification of the matters reported through police investigation.

Question 18

Garrison / Sufficiency of Address

Answer 18

For single-family dwellings, the address is sufficient in urban areas, but for rural areas, you must ask whether the place to be searched is described with sufficient particularity to enable the executing officer to locate and identify the premises with reasonable effort AND whether there is any reasonable probability that another premises might be mistakenly searched.

For multi-family dwellings, if the officers are aware that it is a multi-family dwelling, they need to include the unit number as well as any identifying marks. This can self-cure through the particular marks.

Question 19

Exceptions to Warrant Clause

Answer 19

1. Consent
2. Plain View
3. Exigent Circumstances
4. Inventory Searches
5. SIA
6. Stop and Frisk (Lesser Intrusion)
7. Automobile Exception

Question 20

Chimel

Answer 20

Because of officer safety and the preservation of evidence, police can search incident to a lawful arrest, but that search is limited to the suspect’s person and the area he immediately controls, known as the “grab area.”

Question 21

Vale

Answer 21

A search incident to a lawful arrest is confined to the immediate vicinity of the arrest, the police cannot simulate the grab area.

Question 22

Carroll

Answer 22

The police can conduct a warrantless search of a car if there is PC to stop the vehicle and PC to make an arrest because vehicles present Chimel concerns of officer safety and preservation of evidence.

Question 23

Robinson

Answer 23

The right to arrest in an automobile carries with it the automatic right to search incident to an arrest, there is no further justification required.

Question 24

Belton

Answer 24

The scope of an automobile search includes occupants and recent occupants regardless of whether they are in the car, and all containers whether open or closed, but not locked containers.

Question 25

Thornton

Answer 25

Recent occupants of an automobile can be searched away from the vehicle and officers can return to search the automobile as long as it is reasonable to believe evidence of the arrested crime might be found inside it.

Question 26

Whren

Answer 26

Pretext for a vehicle stop is irrelevant to the constitutionality of a potential vehicle search as long as the stop and arrest are lawful–stopping someone for a less serious crime and searching due to a more serious crime and arrest is permitted under the Fourth Amendment.

Question 27

Gant

Answer 27

There can be a vehicle search incident to an arrest if and only if the suspect is not yet in custody at the time of the search OR there is reason to believe the search will reveal evidence of the crime for which the suspect was arrested.

Question 28

Terry Stop

Answer 28

Where a police officer observes unusual conduct which leads them to reasonably conclude in light of their experience that criminal activity is afoot and the person with whom they are dealing may be armed and dangerous, after they have identified themself as a police officer and nothing dispels them of their reasonable belief of criminal activity or officer safety, they are entitled for the protection of themself and others to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault them.

Question 29

Terry Reasonableness

Answer 29

1. The officer’s stop must be justified at its inception, or based on some reasonably articulable suspicion AND
2. The search/seizure must be related in scope to the circumstances that justified the interference in the first place.

Question 30

Mendenhall

Answer 30

A person has been seized only when by means of physical force or a show of authority, his freedom of movement is restrained in some significant way–a reasonable person must believe they are not free to leave.

Question 31

Wardlow

Answer 31

Running in a high crime neighborhood creates reasonable suspicion.

Question 32

Place

Answer 32

When an officer has reasonable suspicion that a person may be travelling with narcotics in their luggage, they may briefly detain the person and their effects, but they cannot seize the person’s property for an unreasonable amount of time to wait for canines—which are not a search because they only reveal illegal activity.

Question 33

Caballes

Answer 33

You can stop a car for PC, and if the canine sniff doesn’t extend past the time it takes to write the ticket or let you go, it is a non-search and non-seizure, but it all must be done in a reasonable amount of time.

Question 34

Miranda Rule 1

Answer 34

The 5A privilege applies to informal compulsion exerted by law enforcement officers during “custodial interrogation.”

Question 35

Miranda Rule 2

Answer 35

Because custodial interrogation involves intimidation and is at odds with the 5A privilege against self-incrimination, unless adequate protective devices are employed to dispel the compulsion, no statement obtained from a person under these circumstances is permissible.

Question 36

Miranda Rule 3

Answer 36

Before custodial interrogation, a suspect must be given the four-fold Miranda Warnings.

Question 37

Miranda Warnings

Answer 37

1. You have a right to remain silent
2. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law
3. You have the right to talk to a lawyer before being questioned, and have them present when you are being questioned
4. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you before any questioning if you so desire
5. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you? Do you wish to waive your rights?

Question 38

Miranda Waiver Rules

Answer 38

1. Waiver must come AFTER right to an attorney is communicated
2. A suspect can’t request an attorney and then waive the right, they must be provided one first and then they can waive
3. If a suspect starts talking and then asks for an attorney, interrogation must CEASE until an attorney is provided.

Question 39

Six Custody Criteria

Answer 39

Main Rule of Custody: When a person has been deprived of his freedom in any significant way.

1. Was the suspect informed questioning was voluntary?
2. Did the suspect possess unrestrained freedom of movement?
3. Did the suspect initiate contact with authorities?
4. Were strong tactics used?
5. Was the atmosphere of questioning police dominated?
6. Was the suspect placed under arrest at the termination of questioning?

Most important part of custody is to determine whether the defendant was COMPELLED to be a witness against themselves.

Question 40

Innis

Answer 40

Interrogation covers express questioning or its functional equivalent, it must reflect a measure of compulsion above and beyond that inherent in the custody itself, the words/actions must be one that officers “should have known” would likely elicit a confession.

Question 41

Berghuis

Answer 41

A suspect must unequivocally invoke their right to remain silent, a suspect can implicitly waive their right to remain silent by making a voluntary statement to the police.