Pg 13

Question 1

Can people be seized in order to get their fingerprints taken?

Answer 1

Yes, because of the uniqueness of fingerprinting, the fact that it doesn’t probe into their private life, it only needs to be done once, it’s totally accurate, and you can’t destroy your fingerprints, so it can be taken at any time

Question 2

Is it possible to briefly seize objects?

Answer 2

Yes. Suspicious circumstances can justify a brief seizure for further investigation. This means something like luggage can be detained in the owner’s immediate possession and it allows the police to intrude on the suspect’s possessory interest and liberty interest in continuing his itinerary.

Question 3

Are police permitted to enter a bus and ask questions?

Answer 3

Yes, that is a permitted seizure

Question 4

If police create an electronic copy of data, is that a seizure?

Answer 4

Yes, it is just like taking physical property.

Question 5

When is it possible for a police officer to search a phone immediately?

Answer 5

If issues like remote wiping or data encryption are likely, then police can rely on exigent circumstances to do an immediate search

Question 6

Why do you usually need a warrant to search a phone or a computer?

Answer 6

Because these things have so much information on them that they are the same as finding the key to someone’s house

Question 7

Who are people that you can detain at the scene of a search?

Answer 7

The occupants or residents of the home, or anyone that the warrant authorizes you to search for contraband

Question 8

What are possible reasons that police can search someone?

Answer 8

If they have reasonable suspicion that the person has named objects of the search on his person, or they feel the need to search those that are present for protection because those people might have weapons

Question 9

Is it possible for police to search the patrons of a bar if they have a search warrant at the bar?

Answer 9

No, because there is no reason to believe that anyone besides the bartender had drugs and the patrons were not mentioned in the warrant

Question 10

Are police permitted to handcuff people in a house that they are searching for a few hours while they do the search?

Answer 10

Yes, if it minimizes risk and if there are multiple detainees, but if the handcuffs cause real pain or discomfort they have to be removed as soon as the officer’s safety is no longer an issue

Question 11

Why do people not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their voice, handwriting, or fingerprints?

Answer 11

Because those things are constantly exposed to the public

Question 12

If police seized evidence from inside your body, such as blood or urine, is that a search?

Answer 12

Yes

Question 13

Do businesses and commercial premises have fourth amendment protection?

Answer 13

Yes

Question 14

Why is there no fourth amendment protection in a prison cell?

Answer 14

Because of the importance of closely surveilling inmates for security and order. This means that the prisoner’s expectation of privacy always yields to an interest in security. Being confined means the loss of freedom of choice and privacy

Question 15

What is the rule for a search incident to lawful arrest with regard to the seizure or search of containers and effects?

Answer 15

Effects can be examined on SITLA if they are within the defendant’s immediate control, but everything else needs a warrant. This means that police cannot search the contents of a phone that they find during SITLA

Question 16

If a suspect is arrested and at the time is in physical possession of a container, are the police permitted to search the container?

Answer 16

Yes, so for example if the defendant had a bag on his lap when he was arrested, but the police officer put the bag on the ground in order to cuff the defendant, then he searched the bag, that is fine

Question 17

If a person is arrested in a car, can the police search the passenger compartment or any containers in the car?

Answer 17

Yes, any police officer that has probable cause to search the vehicle can search all containers that might conceal the object of the search. So it is reasonable to examine packages and containers without worrying about their ownership as long as you can show probable cause for each one.

Question 18

If a person is arrested in a car, can you search the passenger’s personal belongings?

Answer 18

Yes, because they are often engaged in a common enterprise with the driver or the driver might have put his contraband into their purse without them knowing

Question 19

Why does luggage have a higher expectation of privacy than a car?

Answer 19

Because luggage is a repository for personal effects.

Question 20

Search warrants are generally necessary to search containers unless what?

Answer 20

There are true exigent circumstances showing that the evidence will lose value unless it is immediately opened, or it will catch the perpetrators before they commit a crime

Question 21

If police lawfully see the contents of a container while it is in transit, like perhaps it is opened by custom officials, and the defendant is arrested and the container is seized, is a warrant needed to open the container?

Answer 21

No, because it has no protected privacy interest anymore once the government officers have lawfully opened it and identified its content as illegal. Resealing the package doesn’t revive or restore privacy rights

Question 22

Can police enter a home without consent or a warrant or exigent circumstances?

Answer 22

No. Searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable

Question 23

If a suspect abandons the place that he used to reside in, what happens to his expectation of privacy there?

Answer 23

It terminates as long as the person has no apparent intention to return or make any further use of the premises

Question 24

What is the difference between a car and a house with regard to searches?

Answer 24

Mobility of the vehicle provides more exigency, vehicles are highly regulated so they have a lower expectation of privacy

Question 25

If a police officer enters a common area such as the hallway of a multiple family dwelling, is that considered to be a search?

Answer 25

Only if the building is only accessible with a key or a buzzer. Then there would be an expectation of privacy in the hallway

Question 26

Is peering into a residence considered to be a search?

Answer 26

Not if you are looking from a public way or the neighbour’s property. But if you stray from the path and peer right into the window, that is a search

Question 27

If a rental period expires but the suspect is still present, does that terminate his expectation of privacy?

Answer 27

No

Question 28

If a suspect is arrested on the street, does that provide exigent circumstances to justify a warrantless search of his house?

Answer 28

No

Question 29

If police have probable cause to think that contraband is present or will be destroyed or removed before a warrant can be gotten, what must be considered in order to figure out if a warrantless search is justified?

Answer 29

– the degree and urgency plus the amount of time that is needed to get a warrant
– reasonable belief that contraband is about to be removed
– possibility of danger to the police guarding the site while the warrant is gotten
– information showing that the possessors are aware that the police are on their trail
– ready destructibility of the contraband

Question 30

What are considered to be structures that are on the curtilege?

Answer 30

Buildings that are in close proximity to the dwelling such as a garage or barn or anything that is immediately surrounding and associated with the home. Anything that’s included in the enclosure around the home anything that the tenant has taken steps to protect from observation. This probably includes the driveway and the path to a barn from the house if it is necessary to access the house

Question 31

For commercial buildings, if areas adjoin a commercial building but are accessible to the public, do they get curtilage protection?

Answer 31

No. The same is true for multiple dwellings and areas outside of individual units of a duplex to include shared spaces