...Criminal Procedure- Article Summary CJA 364 July 1, 2013 Garry Moore Criminal Procedure- Article Summary In this summary an article focusing on Cost v. Commonwealth is dissected (Call, 2013). The article focuses on an officer who approached a parked vehicle and noticed suspicious activity by the passenger. The search and seizure will be the focus of this case and how it relates to probable cause. The officer noticed Cost immediately reach toward his pockets as the officer approached the vehicle. The officer removed Cost from the vehicle when Cost did not respond to the officer’s questions about what was in his pocket. Cost gave the officer permission for a pat-down, but refused a search. The officer conducted the pat down and felt small capsules in Cost’s pocket. The narcotics training the officer received gave him a hunch that the capsules were heroin. Probable cause is interpreted as a belief supported by facts that a crime has been or will be committed (Taylor, 2013). The officer believed he had probable cause and proceeded with a search. His suspicions were confirmed, the capsules were indeed heroin. The officer attempted to use his experience as a justification for a probable cause and the search. However, the Virginia Supreme Court did not agree. The court stated that the passenger was not required to respond to the officer’s questions and was compliant throughout the incident (Call, 2013). The item was not in plain view, the officer could not have known if the...
Words: 481 - Pages: 2
...Abandonment University Of Phoenix Abandonment This case presents evidence obtained by Officer Sedwick and Officer Melbourne. In late August of 2005, Officer’s Sedwick and Melbourne were conducting an investigation on Ecstasy distribution in an area in close proximity of a local university. Both officers’ have received a description of possible Ecstasy distributors by a liable source. While patrolling the streets of north Phoenix, 2 college-aged males were spotted, who fit the description of the suspected Ecstasy dealers. The officers seen these 2 males entering a pizza restaurant and decided to go in and observe these men and their actions. They were both seen talking to an older man behind the counter. The officer’s observed an exchange of unknown items between the older man and the 2 males. After the exchange, both males immediately exited the restaurant and returned to a vehicle and begin driving. The officer’s followed the 2 men to a motel. The 2 men proceeded to knock on the door of room 126. After entering the motel room and closing the door behind them, both officers’s decided to knock on the door as well. A woman who was the renter of the room proceeded to answer the door, as well as giving both officers entry into the motel room. The officer’s heard a toilet flush and immediately seen the 2 men leave the bathroom, both having a look of nervousness upon their faces. The officers proceeded to the bathroom, where several pills were seen in plain view, around the...
Words: 528 - Pages: 3
...Our founding fathers in their quest to set forth protections of citizens enacted the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (GPOaccess.gov/constitution) The purpose behind this amendment is the people have the right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”. At face value you may believe that this amendment provides you with total protection from an illegal search and seizure. In this paper I will demonstrate that the Fourth Amendment does not cover searches that occur in open fields or for items that are observed in plain view. In order to form an opinion on the constitutionality of a warrantless search you first need to determine what an open field is and what would be considered private property. This is known as the Open Fields Doctrine. (Wetterer, 1998) Items in open fields are not protected by the Fourth Amendment so they can be seized by an officer without a warrant or probable cause. Open fields do not fall within any of these categories. What does “open fields” exactly mean? Open fields encompass any open, undeveloped property that is not intimately used for dwelling (including curtilage) or business. The main residence on a piece of land, any outbuildings closely connected with and in close proximity to it, and the land immediately surrounding the residence are all considered to be within the curtilage of the land and are areas in which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy...
Words: 1733 - Pages: 7
...There are six established exceptions to the fourth amendment. The first exception is the search incident to lawful arrest. It states that if someone is lawfully arrested the police can search the person and the surrounding area. The second exception to the amendment is the plain view exception, which states that if an officer see’s something in plain view that is breaking the law that can seize whatever is breaking the law and places you under arrest. Like if your growing marijuana plants in your backyard and an officer looks over your fence and see’s it he can seize the plants and put you under arrest. The third exception is consent, which is given by a person reasonably believed by an officer to have authority. So, if a suspect’s "significant other" provides police with a key to the suspect’s apartment, and police reasonably believe that she lives there. The fourth exception is stop and frisk, the evidence necessary for “reasonable suspicion” here is something beyond mere suspicion, but is less than the level required for probable cause. The fifth exception is the automotive exception. A warrant is not required to search vehicles if police have probable cause to believe the vehicle contains evidence of a crime, the instrumentalities of crime, contraband, or the fruits of a crime. The sixth and final exception is emergencies or hot pursuit. Evidence that can be easily moved, destroyed or otherwise made to disappear before a warrant can be issued may be seized without a warrant...
Words: 290 - Pages: 2
...Makestuff’s intellectual property with him to his new employer (undoubtedly a Makestuff competitor). In particular, Mr. Andfirum is worried about the loss of the source code for “Product X,” which the company is counting on to earn millions in revenue over the next three years. Mr. Andfirum provides you a copy of the source code to use in your investigation. Lastly, Mr. Andfirum tells you to remember that the Company wants to retain the option to refer the investigation to law enforcement in the future, so anything you do should be with thought about later potential admissibility in court. The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and...
Words: 1700 - Pages: 7
...which was established in the seventeenth and eighteenth century English common law. Aside from the rest of the amendments in the Bill of Rights the Fourth Amendment can be traced back to a strong public reaction from some cases back in the 1760s. Two of these cases happened in England and one case happened in the colonies. These cases involved some pamphleteers who would pass out pamphlets to the public in order to spread their word around. These pamphlets however ridiculed the king and his ministers. After finding this out the king issued warrants to have the pamphleteer’s homes ransacked and stripped of all their books and papers. Even back then the pamphleteers knew that their rights were violated and fought back. They stated that the searches were against them, similar to a “personal attack” rather than an attack on their information they held within their homes. This is an extremely early case dealing with search and seizure, if not one of the first cases, in which the individuals being searched stood up for themselves because they felt the actions taken against them were unjust. However, since these cases are dated so far back in history it is hard to understand whether our founder fathers could have foreseen any problems with the amendment in the future, and everything that applies under the fourth amendment today. At the end of the eighteenth century this was dealing with pamphlets that the king did not like and tried to extinguish through tearing apart the “offender’s”...
Words: 1515 - Pages: 7
...From Arrest To Adjudication American International University CRSJ101 10/21/2012 Katisha Howard Abstract There are different types of search warrants. In this presentation I will talk about the different types of search warrants. Also I will discuss the process of the search warrant how it is sought and issued. I also will talk about what is probable cause. As well as the standards that is met by probable cause. A search warrant is a court order that allows a law enforcement agency to search your home, car, or the office for evidence. It must state what they are allowed to search in home, car and so forth on and what they are looking for according to http://answers.ask.com/reference/other/what_is_a_search. To get a search warrant the officer must persuade a judge that they have probable cause to believe they will find evidence of criminal activity in the placed to be search. The officer do this through an affidavit, which is an oral or written statement made under oath according to the link http://www.streetlaw.org/en/page/340/search_warrants_what_Are_They_and_How_Do_They_Work. In the report the officer only identify the placed to be search and items that are to be seized. If a judge believes the officer provided probable cause, the judge will then issue the search warrant. If the judge does not believe the officer provided probable cause the warrant will not be issued. The following link has an example of a case where a search was conducted http://sandarose.com/2012/05...
Words: 1704 - Pages: 7
...Judges and jurors may not conduct their own investigation into the essential fact of a case. States and federal courts forbid judges and jurors from being influenced. Evidence must be properly admitted into records. The chain of custody proof is demand when the evidence is not unique or where it needs to be. The chain of custody starts with the evidence that is first collect, and then maintained once the evidence in inclined and the chain of custody guarantee’s accountability. Items must be taken good care of because if not, then the items will be inadmissible. Anyone who is involved in the chain of custody is responsible to take care of all items while they’re in their control. Evidence custodian is then provided to gather liability for the evidence. Evidence custodian, must be a warrant officer or commissioned officer. They must be able to attend anything that is required for them to attend, and the custodian and the alternate must not be absent at the same time. Border search exception is when there is reasonable suspicion, and international airports are able to search and seize. Many people do drug trafficking and soliciting prostitutes. Many people are profiling individuals who are acting suspicious. Chimel rule is when a warrant less search is allowed, and a search warrant is being served without actually having a search warrant. In prisons it is allowed to strip search an inmate but if only it is in a secure place. Also if any vehicles are used to give inmates any...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
... | | Assignment Title: | Assignment #5 | Date of Submission: | 8/24/14 | Assignment Due Date: | 8/24/14 | | | Course: | EDL 6231: School Law | | | Semester/Term: | Summer | Course Instructor: | Dr. A. Donald Hendricks | | | Certification of Authorship: I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the paper. I also have cited any sources from which I used data, ideas, or words, either quoted directly or paraphrased. I certify that this paper was prepared by me specifically for the purpose of this assignment, as directed. Student’s Signature: Jill Stover Module #5 Student Searches EDL 6231: School Law The topic chosen for this project is student searches in schools. As the dean of students this past spring, this topic came up multiple times because of suspicions or reports from parents and students of drug use. We arranged for the K-9 unit at our school two different times this past spring. One time was for a search of bags that belonged to students who were packed and ready to go on an overnight trip with our Vo-ag student group. There were rumors and suspicions that drugs were coming with the students in their bags, so to make sure it did not the K-9 unit came in to search the bags. Planning out the process seemed very stressful at the time but it went pretty smooth once it all got started. Students walked in the door, dropped their bags off in...
Words: 2261 - Pages: 10
...The most important amendment is the fourth amendment because the it says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” It is basically saying that they wrote this law because tax collectors were abusing their powers by searching the colonist homes for illegal goods, and these general warrants allowed any messenger or officer to search a suspected place without any evidence. It also allowed them to arrest people without even saying what they did wrong or showing evidence. Also, Virginia banned the use of general warrants later because they were scared of the generals doing that and if they were next. Later on, it became the fourth Amendment in the Bill of rights. In my opinion the fourth amendment is the most important because there were people who were getting arrested or generals that were invading people's houses for no reason. This amendment is used today because that means that in order for a police officer to arrest or search someone's house, they will need...
Words: 469 - Pages: 2
...So, you lead a clean and healthy life, but you were pulled over by a police officer and drugs were found in your car? Maybe you had friends in the car at the time and none would fess up that the drugs they threw on the floor were theirs when found during a vehicle search, or maybe there was no one else in the car at the time but a friend you had given a ride in the past dropped them. No matter how the drugs got there, you can legally be held responsible for having the drugs in your possession (in your car) and charged with drug possession. However, here are two ways a good drug defense attorney can help keep you from ending up in jail over someone else's habit and keep a drug charge off your record. 1. They Can Help Prove That Your Vehicle...
Words: 598 - Pages: 3
...The changing legal idea about computers is that its a trend forcing police to change the way that they investigate crimes and obtain search warrants. A computer or personal electronic device can no longer be seen as just a thing, it should be viewed as a place said Mr. Justice Thomas Heeney. Recent case laws holds that because a computer can contain such huge amounts of personal information, it should be regarded as a place. Mr. Rafferty's laptop was essentially warrant-less and so had violated his Charter of Rights against unreasonable search and seizure. This precedent stemmed from another high profile murder case in 2007 which was a Markham salesman killing his estranged wife and another woman. His cell phone was going to be examined for trace evidence of blood splatter, but the scrutiny of its contents inside needed a second warrant. The plain view principle could not be applied in this case. That simply involves common sense because none of the contents in the computers were in plain view. Two other legal skirmishes that the jury never heard about were 1- several inconsistencies in various statements made by witnesses and 2- The inconsistency in Ms. Mcclintics initial claim of Rafferty being the one to smash Tori's skull, and later she said that she wielded the murder weapon. They also missed the episode in the court room when two people tried to snap pictures of Rafferty which is extremely illegal in a court room. I do not believe in the fact that evidence should be...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...Search and Seizure Louisa Barnes CJ333: Constitutional Law March 16, 2014 Erin Shriver SEARCH AND SEIZURE Constitutional Search The high school students were throwing a party that created so much noise that a noise complaint was lodged with the police by a neighbor. This gave the police the right to enter onto the property to investigate the complaint. Once they arrived at the residence and started talking to the party goers they smelled marijuana on the individuals. Because of the reasonable suspicion and probable cause that criminal activity was taking place they had a right to search the premises. This is found in the Fourth Amendment under Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion (Farlex, Inc., 2014).To protect evidence from being destroyed they also had a need for the search of the premises. To protect themselves as well as possible evidence they were also permitted to frisk the individuals that were out on the porch of the house. This exercise is permitted when they have reasonable suspicion that a criminal activity is taking place (Daniel E. Hall, 2012, pp. 509-510). While frisking the individuals a bag of marijuana was found. This led the police officers to then call for backup for searching the house before evidence inside the property could be destroyed before a warrant could be obtained. While waiting on the backup they proceeded to search the remaining individuals inside the home, again to keep themselves safe. Drugs are a type of evidence that can disappear...
Words: 1268 - Pages: 6
...possession if objects are found with the person. As per the criminal court, the constitution of a specific state can be the basis on which search warrants can be sought. Search Warrants objects comprises of commission of crimes along with stolen goods and other things such as black marketing, narcotics and smuggling. A proper check between the judicial along with the legislative government branches exist in the form of the Constitution belonging to the US. The US constitution fourth amendment safeguards people from irrational searches and from their valuables being taken away through legal process. Under this amendment a search warrant is issued only once it’s determined with surety that a crime is committed by a particular individual. The fourth amendment makes it essential to prohibit evidence in the form of trial being taken from illegal searches being made without verifying an authentic warrant (The Fourth Amendment Warrant Requirement, 2008). Searches without Warrants 1. Lawful Arrest Search Incident The lawful arrest search incident is not restrictive to the issuance of a warrant. This means that if a person gets lawfully arrested, then the police have every right to search the person’s surrounding which is reach of the police. For instance John has been driving while being intoxicated and gets caught up for breaking the signal. A search conducted by the police finds illegal handgun being present in the car’s trunk and an...
Words: 1241 - Pages: 5
...recognized the marijuana plants as contraband and has the right to seize them without a search warrant. “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”[2] The police officer needs to obtain a search warrant in order to search the rest of the residence. With no exception present, the police officer would be violating the resident’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure if he conducted a full search of the residence without a search warrant. “The Fourth Amendment is as follows: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” [3] “When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt...
Words: 696 - Pages: 3