Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

Question 1

Define the evanescent evidence exception.

Answer 1

Exigent circumstances - in the time it would take to get a warrant, the evidence would dissipate or disappear (or be destroyed).

Question 2

Define the hot pursuit of a fleeing felon exception.

Answer 2

Officers can follow a fleeing felon into his home or the home of a third party. While they’re searching for the suspect, any evidence of crime in plain view will be admissible.

Question 3

Define the emergency aid exception.

Answer 3

Police may enter a home if they reasonably believe someone inside requires emergency aid to address or prevent an injury.

Question 4

If officers conduct an unlawful arrest, will evidence found on the person of an arrestee be admissible?

Answer 4

No - in order for the search incident to arrest exception to apply, the person must be lawfully arrested.

Question 5

When must officers conduct a search incident to lawful arrest?

Answer 5

Contemporaneous to the arrest. If after, won’t be “incident” to arrest.

Question 6

What are the two justifications for a search incident to lawful arrest?

Answer 6

1. officer safety.

2. preventing the destruction of evidence.

Question 7

What is the geographic scope of a search incident to lawful arrest?

Answer 7

the wingspan of a person (anything on them or in their immediate control, including any containers)

Question 8

What is the permissible scope of an auto search incident to lawful arrest?

Answer 8

the interior cabin of the car (including closed containers), but not the trunk

Question 9

Can an officer search an arrestee’s car after they’ve been taken out of the car and secured?

Answer 9

Only if officer has reason to believe the vehicle contais evidence related to the crime of arrest.

NY: once an arrestee is outside of the car, the officer cannot search containers inside.

Question 10

When is consent to search considered valid?

Answer 10

When it is voluntary and intelligent. Officers do not have a duty to tell people they have the right to refuse consent.

Question 11

What is the scope of consent?

Answer 11

to areas for which a reasonable officer would believe consent to search was granted

Question 12

What happens if police later discover that the person who gave consent to search did not actually have authority to consent?

Answer 12

The search is invalid unless the officers had a reasonable belief that the consenting party had actual authority.

Question 13

When adults share a premises, who can consent to its search?

Answer 13

Any resident can consent to search of the common areas.

Question 14

What happens if adult co-residents disagree - one gives consent to search, the other does not.

Answer 14

The party denying consent prevails, as to the areas over which they share dominion and control.

Question 15

What is the justification for the automobile exception?

Answer 15

Cars are readily mobile, and people have a lesser expectation of privacy in vehicles.

Question 16

What is the standard to conduct a warrantless automobile search?

Answer 16

Probable cause to believe contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in the vehicle.

Question 17

If officers have probable cause to search a vehicle, what is the scope of their search?

Answer 17

The entire car - and any containers that may reasonably contain the item they have probable cause to believe is in the car.
E.g. searching for a big flat screen TV vs. searching for drugs gives a very different scope.

Question 18

If an officer stops a vehicle for a traffic stop - but the stop escalates into a search of the vehicle - when must the officer have probable cause to search?

Answer 18

Before the search, not necessarily at the time of the stop.

Question 19

What are the three requirements for the plain view doctrine to apply?

Answer 19

1. officers have lawful access to the place from which the item can be plainly seen,
2. officers have lawful access to the item from which the item can be plainly seen, and
3. criminality of the item is immediately apparent (without manipulation)

Question 20

What are the two most common contexts for an inventory search?

Answer 20

1. arrestee at booking

2. car that has been impounded

Question 21

What are the three requirements for a valid inventory search?

Answer 21

1. regulations governing the search are reasonable in scope,
2. the search complied with the regulations, and
3. the search was done in subjective good faith

Question 22

When does the special needs doctrine apply?

Answer 22

law enforcement, government employees, and school officials have a need to search beyond general interest in law enforcement.

Question 23

What are the three contexts for which random, suspicionless drug testing has been approved?

Answer 23

1. Railroad employees following an accident
2. Customs agents responsible for drug inception
3. Public school students participating in any extracurricular activity

Question 24

When is suspicionless drug testing not permitted?

Answer 24

When its primary purpose is to gather criminal evidence for general use by law enforcement.

Question 25

Can a parole officer conduct a suspicionless search of a parolee’s home without a warrant?

Answer 25

Yes, the search of a parolee’s home is a permissible condition of parole.

Question 26

What are citizens and non-citizens’ rights with respect to routine searches of persons and effects at the border?

Answer 26

There is no 4th Amendment protection here.

Question 27

Define a Terry stop.

Answer 27

A brief detention or seizure (can be anywhere) for purposes of investigating suspicious conduct.

Question 28

What are three factors relevant to a seizure finding?

Answer 28

1. whether officers brandished a weapon
2. officer’s tone and demeanor
3. whether person told they have the right to refuse consent.

Question 29

When the police pursue a subject, at what point is there a seizure?

Answer 29

MBE: only when the suspect submits to the officer’s authority by stopping or the officer physically restrains the person.

NY: pursuit is seizure in and of itself.

Question 30

Who is seized during a traffic stop?

Answer 30

Both drivers and passengers

Question 31

At what point does a dog sniff search at a traffic stop become unreasonable?

Answer 31

It is reasonable unless it unreasonably prolongs the stop, at which point a warrant is required.

Question 32

Define a Terry frisk.

Answer 32

A pat down of the outer body and clothing for weapons, when the officer believes the suspect is armed and dangerous.

Question 33

What items can be seized from a Terry frisk?

Answer 33

Anything an officer pats and reasonably believes is a weapon.

Contraband (drugs) only if, without manipulating the object, the officer recognizes it as contraband.

The contraband part is not allowed in NY - only weapons.

Question 34

If, during a traffic stop, the officer believes the suspect is dangerous, what may he search?

Answer 34

The passenger cabin of the car, but limited to places where a weapon could be placed or hidden.

Question 35

What evidentiary standard must be met to conduct a Terry stop or frisk?

Answer 35

Reasonable suspicion (less than probable cause)

Question 36

What is the specific evidentiary standard for a Terry stop?

Answer 36

Specific and articulable facts that justify an officer’s belief that criminal activity is present. Subjective intent is irrelevant - belief must be objectively reasonable.

Question 37

What is the specific evidentiary standard for a Terry frisk?

Answer 37

Specific and articulable facts to suggest the person is armed and dangerous.

Question 38

Can informant tips satisfy the reasonable suspicion standard?

Answer 38

Only if there is sufficient predictive information corroborated by the police to establish the informant’s reliability.

Question 39

Define protective sweep.

Answer 39

Sweep of the area immediately adjoining the place of an arrest that is based on the risk that the place harbors confederates who pose a danger to the officers or the evidence.

Question 40

What is required to justify a protective sweep of an area not immediately adjoining the place of arrest?

Answer 40

Officers must have additional facts that would allow a reasonably prudent officer to conclude that an individual that may threaten officer safety is present in the area to be swept.