Fourth Amendment - Arrests and Other Detentions

Question 1

Seizure

Answer 1

Any exercise of control by a government agent over a person or thing is a seizure.

Governmental seizures of persons, including arrests, are seizures within the scope of the 4th Amendment and so must be reasonable.

Question 2

What Constitutes a Seizure

Answer 2

A seizure occurs, when under the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person would feel that they were not free to decline the officer’s requests or otherwise terminate the encounter.

Question 3

Arrests

Answer 3

An arrest occurs when the police take a person into custody against their will for purposes of criminal prosecution or interrogation.

Question 4

Probable Cause Requirement

Answer 4

An arrest must be based on probable cause - that is, trustworthy facts or knowledge sufficient for a reasonable person to believe that the suspect was committed or is committing a crime for which arrest is authorized by law.

PC is based on totality of the circumstances.

Question 5

Warrant

Answer 5

A warrant is generally not required before arresting a person in a public place. However, police generally must have a warrant to effect a nonemergency arrest of a person in their home.

Question 6

Effect of invalid arrest

Answer 6

if there is an arrest without PC, it won’t affect if they get PC later.

Question 7

Investigatory Detentions - Terry Stops

Answer 7

If the police have a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or involvement in a completed crime, supported by articulable facts, they may detain a person for investigative purposes. If the police also have reasonable suspicion that the detainee is armed and dangerous, they may frisk the detainee for weapons.

Question 8

Reasonable Suspicion

Answer 8

More than just vague suspicion but is less than PC.

Whether the police have reasonable suspicion depends on the totality of the circumstances.

Question 9

Informants

Answer 9

When reasonable suspicion is based on an informant’s tip, there must be an indicia of reliability to be sufficient.

The more predictive info they give the more reliable they are.

Question 10

Duration and Scope - Investigatory stops (Terry Stops)

Answer 10

The police must act in a diligent and reasonable manner in confirming or dispelling their suspicions.

Question 11

Property Seizures

Answer 11

Brief property seizures are similarly valid if based on reasonable suspicion.

Question 12

Automobile Stops

Answer 12

Police officers may stop a car if they have at least reasonable suspicion to believe that a law has been violated.

Question 13

Traffic Stops and Police Dogs

Answer 13

a dog sniff is not a search, so long as the police do not extend the stop beyond the time needed to issue a ticket or conduct normal inquiries.

A dog “alert” to the presence of drugs can form the basis for PC for a search.

You can not use a drug sniffing dog outside of the home of a suspected drug dealer.

Question 14

Police Officer’s Mistake of Law

Answer 14

A police officer’s mistake of law does not invalidate a seizure as long as the mistake was reasonable (I.e., mistakenly believing that a vehicle must have two working break lights).

Question 15

Seizure of All Occupants

Answer 15

An automobile stop constitutes a seizure not only of the automobile’s driver, but also of any passengers as well.

Passengers have standing to bring unlawful stop.

Question 16

Informational Checkpoints and Roadblocks

Answer 16

If police set up a roadblcok for purposes other than seeking incriminating information about the drivers stopped, teh roadblock will be constitutional.

To be valid, the roadblock must:

1. stop cars on the basis of some neutral, articulable standard (for example, every car), and
2. Be designed to serve purposes closely related to a particular problem pertaining to automobiles and their mobility.

Question 17

Police May Order Occupants out of car

Answer 17

in the interest of officer safety, the officer may order the occupants of the vehicle to get out.

If the officer reasonably believes the detainees are armed, the officer may frisk the occupants and search the passenger compartment for weapons, even after the officer has ordered the occupants out.

Question 18

Pretextual Stops

Answer 18

If the police have PC to believe a driver violated a traffic law, they may stop the car, even if their ulterior motive is to investigate a crime for which they lack sufficient cause to make a stop.

Question 19

Detention to Obtain a Warrant

Answer 19

If the police have PC to believe that a suspect has hidden drugs in their home, they may, for a reasonable time, prevent the suspect from going into the home unaccompanied so that they can prevent the suspect from destroying the drugs while they obtain a search warrant.

Question 20

Occupants ont eh Premises

Answer 20

a valid warrant to search for contraband allows the police to detain occupants of the premises during a proper search.

Question 21

Grand Jury Appearance

Answer 21

Seizure of a person (by subpoena) for a grand jury appearance is not within the 4th amend protections.

Question 22

Deadly Force

Answer 22

There is a 4th Amend “seizure” when a police officer uses deadly force to apprehend a suspect.

An officer may not use deadly force unless it is reasonable to do so under the circumstances.