Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement Flashcards
The Three Types of Exigent Circumstances
1) Evanescent Evidence
2) Hot Pursuit
3) Emergency Aid
Overview of Warrantless Searches and Exceptions
All warrantless searches are unconstitutional unless they fit into one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement
ESCAPIST - The different exceptions
E-Exigent Circumstances
S-Search Incident to Arrest
C-Consent
A-Automobile
P-Plain View
I-Inventory
S-Special Needs
T-Terry Stop and Frisk
Evanescent Evidence (Exigent Circumstances)
Evanescent evidence is evidence that might dissipate or disappear quickly if the police took time to get a warrant
However, the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream does not automatically create an exigency sufficient to justify a warrantless blood alcohol content test
Hot Pursuit (Exigent Circumstances)
Police in hot pursuit of a fleeing felon may make a warrantless search and seizure and may even enter the hold of the suspect or a third party.
During the hot pursuit, any evidence of a crime discovered in plain view while searching for the suspect is admissible.
If the fleeing person is suspected of a misdemeanor, their flight does not always justify a warrantless entry. The officer must consider all the circumstances to determine whether there is a law enforcement emergency that justifies a warrantless entry.
Emergency Aid (Exigent Circumstances)
A police officer may enter premises without a warrant if there is an objectively reasonable basis for believing that a person inside is in need of emergency aid to address or prevent injury
NOTE– the injury does not need to be life threatening
Search Incident to Arrest
Incident to a constitutional arrest, the police may search the person and areas into which they might reach to obtain weapons or destroy evidence (wingspan)
Constitutional Arrest Requirement (Search Incident to Arrest)
The arrest (custodial arrest) must be based on probable cause to believe a law has been violated and must meet the other constitutional requirements.
If an arrest is unconstitutional, any search incident to that arrest is also unconstitutional.
Timing (Search Incident to Arrest)
The search must be contemporaneous in time and place with the arrest (doesn’t necessarily mean simultaneously)
Geographic Scope (Search Incident to Arrest)
The scope of the search includes the arrested person and the areas within the arrestee’s wingspan, which includes the body, clothing, and any containers within the arrestee’s immediate control without regard to the offense for which the arrest was made.
The police may also conduct a protective sweep of the area if they believes accomplices may be present.
Contemporary Developments (Search Incident to Arrest)
With respect to things that did not exist when the 4th amendment was adopted, the supreme court balances 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.
Cell Phones – May not (without a warrant) search digital data on the cell phone of an arrestee, but they may examine the phone’s physical aspects to ensure that it will not be used as a weapon
DNA Evidence – Police may lawfully take a DNA sample by swabbing the cheek of an individual arrested for a serious offense
Sobriety Tests – Incident to arrests for drunk driving, the four amendment permits warrantless breath tests, but not blood tests
Automobiles Searched Incident to Arrest
The police may conduct a search of an automobile incident to arrest if the arrestee is unsecured and still may gain access to the interior of the vehicle.
Once the officer has secured an arrestee, the officer can search the arrestee’s vehicle only if the officer has reason to believe the vehicle may contain evidence relating to the crime for which the arrest was made.
SCOPE – If the requirements are satisfied, the police may search the passenger cabin, including closed container, but not the trunk.
Consent
A warrantless search is valid if the police have voluntary consent. For consent to be valid, police officers do not need to tell individuals that they have the right to refuse consent.
The scope of the search may be limited by the scope of the consent, but generally consent to search extends to all areas for which a reasonable officer would believe permission to search was granted.
Apparent Authority to Consent
If a police officer obtains consent to search from someone who lacks actual authority to grant it, the consent is still valid under the fourth amendment, provided the officer reasonably believed the consenting party has actual authority.
Think of the GF with key case
Shared Premises (Consent)
When adults share a residence, any resident can consent to a search of the common areas within it.
If co-occupants are present on the premises and object to the search, the objecting party prevails as to areas over which they share dominion and control.
However, if an objecting co-occupant is removed for reasons unrelated to the refusal, the police may rely on the consent of the remaining, consenting co-occupant.
Automobile Exception
If the police have probable cause to believe that a vehicle contains fruits, instrumentalities, or evidence of a crime, they may search the entire vehicle and any container that might reasonably contain the item for which they had probable cause to search.
Justification - vehicles are readily moveable and individuals have a lesser expectation of privacy in them
Scope of Search (Automobile Exception)
The police may search the entire vehicle, and may open any container that may reasonably contain the items for which the probable cause to search arose.
The search may extend to packages belonging to a passenger, it is not limited to the driver’s belongings
HOWEVER – If police have probable cause only to search a container in the vehicle, they may search only that container, not the other parts of the vehicle.
Traffic Stops (Automobile Exception)
For the search to be lawful, an officer does not need probable cause for the search at the time the car is pulled over, provided the officer acquires it before initiating the search.
Plain View
The police may make a warrantless seizure of an item in plain view if:
1) the police has lawful access to the place from which the item can be plainly seen;
2) the police have lawful access to the item itself; and
3) The criminality of the item is immediately apparent
When do Inventory Searches commonly occur
1) Arrestees - police may make an inventory search of an arrestee’s belongings when booked pursuant to established department procedure
2) Impounded Vehicle - Police may make an inventory search of an impounded Vehicle
Inventory Searches Constitutionality
Inventory Searches are constitutional, provided:
1) the regulations governing them are reasonable in scope
2) the search itself complies with those regulations
3) the search is conducted in good faith - it is motivated solely by the need to safeguard the owner’s possessions and/or ensure officer safety
NOTE - an officer’s subjective intent mattes in this situation
Terry Stop
A Terry stop is a brief detention or seizure for the purpose of investigating suspicious conduct. They can take place anywhere.
When a person seized under the 4th amendment (Terry Stops)
An individual is seized under the fourth amendment when, based on the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person would not feel free to leave or to decline an officer’s request to answer questions.
When determining, the court will consider:
1) whether the officer brandishes a weapon
2) the officer’s tone and demeanor when interacting with the person questioned
3) whether the individual was told they had a right to refuse consent
Police Pursuit and Seizure (Terry Stops)
When being pursued by police, an individual is seized only if the individual submits to the officer’s authority by stopping or if the officer physically retrains them.
Traffic Stops (Terry)
1) in a traffic stop, both the driver and the passengers are seized, such that either can challenge the legality of the stop
2) in a traffic stop, the officer may, in their discretion, order both the driver and passengers out of the car
3) Dog sniffs at traffic stops are permissible provided the sniff does not prolong the stop
