Definitions
Provides that people should be free in their persons from unreasonable searches and seizures.
4th Amendment
What is required for a Terry stop?
Hint: 2 things
What is the knock and announce rule?
Typically officers must knock and
announce themselves and wait a
‘reasonable amount of time’ before forcibly
entering (generally thought to be 20-30
sec)
What did Kyllo hold?
Law enforcement’s use of sense-enhancing technology to see details of a private home that would not be discoverable without physically entering the home constitutes a Fourth Amendment search.
What is Farber's first name?
Hilary
Concept of _____ is more than a suspicion or hunch, but it is less than preponderance of the evidence, reasonable doubt, or clear and convincing evidence
Probable Cause
What are the two prong of Aguilar / Spinelli test?
1. Informer's basis of knowledge and 2. Veracity / Reliability of Informant
What do you need to enter someone's home (barring any exceptions)?
Hint: two things
1. Need arrest warrant and 2. Reason to believe suspect is inside
What did Illinois v. Gates hold?
That a warrant application is okay if it shows a good reason to believe that a search will find evidence of a crime
A bookstore owner was believed to have committed arson of a competing bookstore. The police brought her to the station for questioning but had not placed her under arrest. An officer sat down with the owner and read her Miranda warnings and then bluntly asked her why she did it. The owner said, "T know I don't have to talk to you, I am invoking my right to silence." The officer then stopped speaking to her and got up and walked out of the room. Thirty minutes later the officer asked the owner if she wanted some water. The owner responded, "yes, nothing makes you thirsty like being around a bunch of burning books. "The officer then read her the Miranda warnings again.
If the owner's statement is admitted against her at trial for arson what is the most likely the reason?
The bookstore owner initiated and waived her Miranda rights
Means by which officer can enter a private
dwelling without an arrest warrant
Hot Pursuit
When does a terry stop occur?
As soon as an officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away he has “seized” that person
For a search warrant, does anyone need to be home?
For an arrest warrant, does someone need to be home?
For a search warrant, no, no one needs to be home.
-Police cannot exceed the scope of the search warrant
For an arrest warrant - Yes, person you are arresting needs to be home
What did Florida v. Jardines hold?
This time the drug sniffing dog constituted a search - curtilage
A private gym employee opened a gym member’s locker without permission and found several small plastic bags containing a white powdered substance, a firearm, and a powered-off phone inside the member’s gym bag. The employee put the items back in the bag, closed the locker, and called the police. When the police arrived, they also opened the locker and the gym bag. The officers field-tested the white powdered substance and confirmed that it was cocaine. The officers then turned on the phone and searched the text messages, which revealed several messages soliciting sales of cocaine. The officers did not have a search warrant.
If the gym member is subsequently arrested and charged with illegal drug distribution, which items, if any, should be excluded from evidence on Fourth Amendment grounds?
Only the text messages
What is area immediately surrounding and associated with the home?
Curtilage
When is an over the clothing ‘pat down’ (frisk) of a
person permissible?
When an officer reasonably suspects the person to be armed and dangerous
What is the 4th Amendment particularity requirement?
Affidavit MUST set forth place to be searched or people to be seized with particularity
Eg: if it is an apartment to be searched,
officers cannot search all apartments in the
complex, the specific apartment needs to
be described with particularity
What did California v. Greenwood hold?
The warrantless search of trash left outside on the curb does not violate the Fourth Amendment, because a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash left for collection in a publicly accessible place.
A police officer, on patrol in a public park known for drug trafficking, observed two individuals exchanging money and a paper bag. The police officer, having reasonable suspicion that she had just witnessed a drug transaction, stopped the individual who had received the bag and asked what the bag contained. The individual answered that the bag contained a quart of automobile oil and some snacks. The individual opened the bag and showed the officer the contents, which were what the individual had said they were. The officer then patted down the individual and felt an object resembling an eyeglass case in the individual’s jacket pocket. The officer asked whether the individual wore glasses. When the individual said he did not wear glasses, the officer removed the case, opened it, and discovered a quantity of cocaine base inside it. The individual was charged with possession of a controlled substance. The individual moved to suppress the cocaine base on the ground that the officer’s pat down was unconstitutional.
At which point in the encounter did the officer first violate the individual’s Fourth Amendment rights?
When the officer patted down the individual
Are open fields protected by the 4th Amendment?
No
Name some factors in assessing reasonable suspicion.
Hint: There is a a lot. If you get at least 4/7 listed, you get the points.
- Matching a description
■ Furtive Gestures/movements
■ Proximity to the crime scene
■ Police officer knowledge of the defendant
■ Fitting a “profile”
■ Location (high crime area)
■ Unprovoked flight
What is the no knock warrant (exception)?
Can be obtained based on reasonable suspicion that there is risk to officer safety, destruction of evidence, and/or risk of suspect fleeing
What did California v. Ciraolo hold?
The warrantless police observation of an enclosed area within the curtilage of a home from an airplane at an altitude of 1,000 feet does not intrude upon any constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy.
Based on information from informants and an undercover investigation, the police developed probable cause that a woman was engaging in prostitution inside an RV licensed as a motor vehicle, where she also lived. The police arrested the woman at a convenience store two blocks from where she had parked the RV. The police had probable cause to believe that evidence of prostitution was inside the RV. Two hours after arresting the woman, police searched the RV without a warrant. Inside, the officers discovered a client list, a bulk supply of condoms, and a large amount of cash. Prior to trial, the defense filed a motion to suppress the evidence discovered inside the RV.
Is the court likely to grant the motion to suppress?
No, because the search fell under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement.