warrantless arrests Flashcards
Does a warrantless arrest violate the Fourth Amendment if there is probable cause to believe that the person has committed a felony?
No. Police may arrest a suspect without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe the suspect committed a felony. The United States Code expressly authorizes postal inspectors to make warrantless arrests if there are “reasonable grounds” for believing the suspect committed a felony. This same authority has been granted to various groups of officers of the federal government, such as the U.S. Marshals and FBI agents. This demonstrates that Congress has deemed these types of warrantless arrests reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The judgment of Congress on matters of constitutionality is given great deference.
Is a judicial determination of probable cause within 48 hours of arrest generally sufficiently prompt?
Yes. A jurisdiction that provides judicial determinations of probable cause within 48 hours of arrest will generally comply with the promptness requirement in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103 (1975). That is not to say, however, that a probable cause determination made in less than 48 hours is automatically constitutional. Determinations of probable cause must still be made without unreasonable delay, and if a determination in less than 48 hours was unreasonably delayed, it may be unconstitutional. The burden of proving that a delay was unreasonable is on the arrestee.
Can the police enter a suspect’s home without a warrant to make a routine felony arrest?
No. The Fourth Amendment, incorporated to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of tangible things, as well as people. Such indiscriminate searches and abuses of police authority were the driving force behind the protections offered by the Fourth Amendment. Not only is there is no firm common-law rule that a warrantless arrest in one’s home is permissible, but there is no clear consensus among the states as to the legality of warrantless arrests in a suspect’s own home, and congress has never determined that entering a private home for the purpose of arresting the owner without a warrant is reasonable.
Absent consent or exigent circumstances, does the Fourth Amendment prohibit law enforcement from searching for the subject of an arrest warrant in a third party’s home without first obtaining a search warrant?
Yes. Absent consent or exigent circumstances, the Fourth Amendment prohibits law enforcement from searching for the subject of an arrest warrant in a third party’s home without first obtaining a search warrant. The arrest warrant in such a case strictly applies to the person named in the warrant and does not protect the Fourth Amendment rights of a third party not named in the warrant. Accordingly, a search of a third party’s home purportedly pursuant to someone else’s arrest warrant is no more reasonable than if there were no warrant issued at all.
Do household guests, present for commercial purposes, have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the house?
No. Someone temporarily in another’s home, and present to conduct a business transaction, does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the house. The state supreme court improperly analyzed this case under the doctrine of “standing.” Standing simply means that a person can be party to a case because he has been or will be harmed. However, when a Fourth Amendment privacy expectation is at issue, as is the case here, Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128 (1978), holds that a Fourth Amendment analysis should be applied
Should the subjective intent of an officer be considered when assessing the reasonableness of a Fourth Amendment seizure pursuant to a material-witness warrant?
No. When evaluating the reasonableness of a seizure under the Fourth Amendment with respect to a validly obtained MWW, a court should look to whether the arrest was objectively justified and not to the intentions of the arresting officer. Fourth Amendment reasonableness is almost always an objective question, in which the inquiry focuses on whether the factual circumstances warranted the action at issue. (2 narrow exceptions in administrative search & special needs cases)
