Criminal Justice: Key Terms and Cases

• Criminal procedure dictates how the government investigates, prosecutes, judges, and sentences those accused of crimes.
• Focuses on interpreting the U.S. Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights.
• State constitutions, statutes, and administrative rules also shape police conduct.
• The Fourth and Fifth Amendments are especially important concerning police conduct.

Fourth Amendment:

• Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
• Requires warrants to be based on probable cause.
• Warrants must specifically describe the place to be searched and the items/persons to be seized.
• Covers both searches and seizures, so almost all physical evidence must be gathered in a way that passes Fourth Amendment standards.
• Courts consider an arrest a seizure, so the Fourth Amendment applies to arrests.
• Originally protected property, but now protects privacy based on reasonable expectation.
• Homes are of critical importance because a person usually has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the home.

Fifth Amendment:

• Protects against self-incrimination.
• Ensures due process of law.

Sixth Amendment:

• Guarantees the right to a public and speedy trial.
• Includes the right to assistance of counsel at various stages, including custodial interrogations.

Fourteenth Amendment

• Mandates that states adhere to federal due process standards.
• Grants federal appellate courts the power to review the constitutionality of actions by state government agents, including police officers.

The Right to Privacy

• The right to privacy is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution.
• The Supreme Court has interpreted several rights as creating a right to privacy, limiting police conduct.
• Police interference must be reasonable, hinging on probable cause.

Searches

• Courts define "search" differently than everyday usage.
• Many exceptions exist where police action may seem like a search but isn't legally defined as such.
• Probable cause is needed for a legal search, determined by the courts, not law enforcement.

Search Warrants

• Probable cause is needed for a lawful search.
• Evidence for probable cause must be given to an impartial magistrate.
• The magistrate will issue a search warrant if they agree probable cause exists.
• An applicant for a warrant must present to the magistrate facts sufficient to enable the officer himself to make a determination of probable cause.
• All facts necessary to support a finding of probable cause must be in the affidavit.
• A search warrant, an officer must establish probable cause to obtain an arrest warrant.
• The courts regard an arrest as a seizure of the person, thus the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies to arrest warrants as well as search warrants.
• For a warrant to be valid, it must be issued by a neutral, detached magistrate.
• A warrant must be specific.
• No question as to which person is to be searched or arrested, or, in the case of a home, which place should be searched.

Probable Cause

• Magistrate must find that probable cause exists to issue a search warrant.
• This has to be in the form of a sworn statement called an affidavit.
• Reasonableness test considers the experience and training of police officers.
• Standard for establishing probable cause is more likely than not.
• An evidentiary standard that falls above a mere hunch, and coming up short of the beyond a reasonable doubt standard used at criminal trial.
• No particular type of evidence is given paramount consideration and all evidence is taken together.
• Trustworthy information as a major requirement, information known to the officer or to another officer is generally considered trustworthy

The Particularity Requirement

• Search warrant must particularly describe the person or thing to be seized.
• The place to be searched must be sufficiently described that it cannot be confused with some other place.

Obtaining and Executing a Search Warrant

• Warrant application process varies by jurisdiction and is outlined in Rules of Criminal Procedure.
• All officer evidence must be in an affidavit.
• Warrant must be served during daylight hours, and officers must identify themselves and ask for entry. This is commonly known as knock and announce.

No-Knock Warrants

• Requires special permission from a judge.
• Authorized when announcing presence could endanger lives or lead to evidence destruction.
• Grants law enforcement the ability to break down doors without warning and enter a structure.
• Civil liberty and police advocates disagree on impacts of issuing these warrants

Searches Without Warrants

• Several exceptions exist to the requirement that officers must obtain a search warrant for a search to be legal.
• Exigent circumstances (emergencies) can justify a warrantless search.
• Another common warrantless search is a consent search, so long as the permission is given voluntarily.
• Police are not obligated to inform citizens that they have the right to refuse consent, under Federal Constitutional law but they do under the law of some states.

Hot Pursuit Search

• If an officer chases an offender into a private place, there is no legal requirement that the officer break off the pursuit.
• Any contraband can be seized and will be admissible in court.

Automobile Search

• Requires probable cause but exempt from the warrant requirement.
• The court allows this compromise because of the inherent mobility of vehicles.
• Citing from a traffic violation, however, is not sufficient to establish probable cause for a lawful search.
• Automobiles differ from homes in that they are mobile, and people generally have a lesser expectation of privacy in them.
• Automobiles (and containers within them) may be searched if probable cause exists, but without a warrant.

Search Incident to Arrest

• Allows officers to search a person and the area immediately under the arrestee’s control after they have been arrested.
• Police can search people and areas in the immediate vicinity for weapons when a lawful arrest is made.

Arrests

• Supreme Court has determined that an arrest is a seizure of the person for legal purposes.
• Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures comes into play
• A person is considered to have been arrested when they are taken into custody with the purpose of bring charged with a crime.
• Can be made in a public place on probable cause, regardless of whether a warrant has been obtained.
• In order to make an arrest in the suspect’s home, police officers must have a warrant.

Arrest Warrants

• A document issued by a court ordering any law enforcement officer to take a particular individual into custody.
• To enter a person’s home to make an arrest, the police must have an arrest warrant.
• Should be made with warrants whenever possible for legal protection for the officer
• An officer does not have to have physical custody of the warrant.
• Knowledge amounting to probable cause to believe such a warrant exists is generally sufficient.
• Arrests are frequently made based on warrant checks when an officer “runs” a suspect’s record via radio during traffic stops and other citizens encounters.
• A bench warrant is a variant of an arrest warrant issued by a judge, commanding all law enforcement officers to arrest the named person on sight, when a judge deems a person to be in contempt of court

Domestic Violence Arrests

• Research suggests arresting the primary aggressor prevents further battering in domestic violence cases.
• Many police departments have a poor job in dealing with these sensitive domestic violence cases.
• Domestic violence is defined as violent, aggressive, or harmful behavior within the home, most often between spouses.

Terry Stops

• Allows police to stop individuals for a short period of time when their behavior seems suspicious, ask them questions, and pat them down for weapons.
• Also known as stop and frisk.
• Requires reasonable suspicion, which is less than probable cause but more than a mere hunch. Brief questions and pat-down searches for weapons are permitted based.

Standards of Suspicion

• Mere Suspicion: Only a suspicion or “gut feeling” by an officer that someone is engaged in criminal behavior. Any contacts that officers make based on mere suspicion cannot involve detention or custodial arrest. The officer is free to initiate a voluntary conversation and the community member is free to walk away.
• Reasonable Suspicion: An objectively justifiable suspicion for believing that a person may be involved in criminal activity. This level must be based on more than just a hunch or gut feeling; it must include specific facts and circumstances that an officer can articulate. An
• Probable Cause: Before police can make an arrest, conduct a search in some circumstances, or apply for a search or arrest warrant, an officer must have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed or a person has been involved in a committed crime.
• Sources of information that police officers may use to satisfy these standards could include information identified in the course of their duties or observations of a person’s actions and demeanor; and personal knowledge, training, witnesses, and professional experiences, among other sources.

Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

• “Special Needs” Searches: Officers do not need any special evidence (PC) to justify a search in certain contexts, such as ports of entry into the United States from any other country (this includes all international airports), andAirline passengers
• Some states allow the use of vehicle checkpoints to apprehend drunk drivers
• Stop and Frisk: Note that the Supreme Court has recognized a substantial difference between a Stop and an Arrest. A stop is a brief interference with someone’s liberty that can be measured in mere minutes. Think of a “traffic stop.”
• Search Incident to an Arrest: Police can search people and areas in the immediate vicinity for weapons when a lawful arrest is made (Chimel v. California, 1969).
• Exigent circumstances: Officers might find themselves in the middle of an urgent situation where they must act swiftly and do not have time to request a warrant from the court. Exigent circumstances will usually exist when it is believed that someone might be in grave danger.
• Consent: A citizen may waive his or her constitutional rights and allow police to search. Police officers do not have to inform citizens of their right to decline a request to search
• Plain View Doctrine: An object in plain view (out in the open) with a criminal nature that is readily apparent, may be seized by an officer without a warrant.
• Automobile Searches: Probable cause exists, but without a warrant.
• Open Fields: Open fields—undeveloped land outside the scope of the home and curtilage—is subject to search without constituting a ‘search’ for Fourth Amendment purposes.

Items Subject to Seizure

• Broadly speaking, three categories of things can always be seized pursuant to a warrant:Contraband, Fruits of crime, and Instrumentalities of crime.

The Exclusionary Rule

• Illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible in criminal court.
• Established in Weeks v. U.S. (1914) for federal agents only.
• Extended to states in Mapp v. Ohio (1961).
• Good faith exception: Evidence admissible if police acted on a warrant they thought was valid (U.S. v. Leon, 1984).
• If evidence used in a criminal trial is obtained illegally (in violation of a person’s Fourth Amendment rights) it cannot be used in court, and any evidence stemming from the initial illegally obtained evidence is also excluded.

The Fifth Amendment

• Guarantees the right to remain silent.
• Protection applies only to testimonial communications, not physical evidence.
• Right can be knowingly and voluntarily waived.

Confessions and Counsel

• Escobedo v. Illinois (1964): Right to counsel activates when questioning shifts from investigatory to accusatory.

Miranda Warnings

• Miranda v. Arizona (1966) requires advising suspects of their rights before custodial interrogation.
• Suspects must be advised of the right to remain silent, that anything they say can be used against them, the right to an attorney, and the provision of a state-appointed attorney if they cannot afford one.
• These rights can be waived, but the right to remain silent can be invoked at any time.

Miranda Exceptions

• New York v. Quarles (1984): Public safety exception allows questioning without Miranda warnings if public safety is at risk.
• Nix v. Williams (1984): Inevitable discovery exception allows evidence if it would have been discovered anyway.
• Miranda does not apply to brief street stops, traffic stops, or voluntary confessions without questioning.

Police Use of Force

• Lawful only when reasonably necessary for a legitimate criminal justice purpose.
• If excessive force is used, it is considered police brutality.
• Police may not lawfully use deadly force to apprehend an unarmed, nonviolent fleeing felon.
• The logic was that doing so constituted an unreasonable seizure of the person under the Fourth Amendment.

Civil Liability and Criminal Prosecution

• Police officers risk lawsuits and criminal charges for excessive force.
• Federal remedies exist, such as 1983 suits.

Deadly Force

• Permitted when officers reasonably believe they are in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death, or to protect others.
• Invalidated the fleeing felon rule, shifting the standard to one of dangerousness.

The Fleeing Felon Rule:

• Allowed an officer to use deadly force to apprehend a felon seeking to escape custody or a lawful arrest.
• Ruled unconstitutional in Tennessee v. Garner (1985).

Law Enforcement Jobs Outlook

• In 2010, the median income for police officers and detectives was $$55,010 per year ($26.45 per hour).
• There were 794,300 jobs in the U.S. at this time, and the expected growth rate over the next decade is around 7%
• Average starting salaries for entry-level local police officer ranged from $26,600 per year in the smallest jurisdictions to $49,500 in the largest.

What Investigators Do

• Investigators gather information through interviews, crime scene investigations, and developing informants.
• The traditional investigator is not always vital for solving crimes.
• Many cases are cleared due to patrol officers' work.

The Patrol Function

• Uniformed patrol officers are often the first responders.
• Investigations usually begin when dispatchers receive a call, through a 911 system.
• Officer safety is the first priority at a crime scene.
• Scene integrity refers to the idea of keeping a crime scene free from contamination and tampering.
• Patrol officers may be responsible for turning an investigation over to another department or agency when public safety demands immediate action.
• A critical aspect of all investigative activity is the meticulous keeping of accurate records.
• Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) is a component of the overall criminal investigation process wherein evidence is collected, documented, and preserved at the location where a crime took place.

Specialized Units

• Strong correlation between the size of an agency's jurisdiction, and the existence of specialized units.
• The bigger a city is, the more specialized officers tend to be within that city's police department.
• Specialized units are any subdivision of a law enforcement agency that has a mission different from patrol.
• The most common specialized units are traffic and drug enforcement units.
• Many large departments divide investigative duties between crimes against persons and crimes against property
• Agencies often create these to target a specific type of crime,
• Domestic violence, vice, organized crimes, and sex crimes are common divisions.
• Drug Enforcement Units are specialized units that focus on drug related crimes, these exist within local law enforcement agencies or multiagency taskforces.
• Traffic Units are specialized units tasked with enforcing traffic regulations and providing related services such as writing accident reports.

Domestic Violence

• Specialized units address the need for specific training to understand the dynamics of domestic violence
• Social workers are paired with investigators for victim assistance
• The code enforcer paradigm is an inappropriate way of subscribing to violent circumstances

Vice

• This unit handles criminal acts considered victimless crimes by most people.
• Prostitution, gambling and drug use are common examples.
• Vice is also an informal term used to denote 'victimless crimes' such as gambling, prostitution, and drug possession.
• Because the laws are unpopular, enforcement is often unpopular as well.

Organized Crime

• Basic characteristic is a group of people working together to achieve some criminal purpose.
• Often will stretch beyond state and local borders, complicating the idea of jurisdiction.
• Electronic surveillance is common in the investigation, and confidential informants add an additional layer of legal complexity to such cases.
• The Mafia is a criminal organization brought to the United States by Italian immigrants in the early nineteenth century.

Internal Affairs

• Special units investigate allegations of police misconduct/corruption.
• Internal affairs is a specialized unit within a police department that investigates allegations of misconduct by the department's officers.
• Violations of the law and police codes of conduct are possible targets.
• Internal affairs officers are placed outside of the usual police command structure, answering directly to the chief

Juveniles and the Police

• Juveniles are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime.
• Status offenses: Acts that would not be criminal among adults, but are prohibited for minors.
• Most police encounters with juveniles involve order maintenance.
• Juvenile Curfew is law (most often a municipal ordinance) that prohibits persons under a certain age from being out in public after a certain time at night.

Community Policing - Juveniles

• Community policing between juveniles and the police have proven to show potential success in implementations of community policing programs.
• D.A.R.E ( Drug Awareness Resistance Education) and SRO (school Resource Officers) policing programs are commonly used throughout the United States.

D.A.R.E

• D.A.R.E stands for Drug Awareness Resistance Education.
• Is a cooperative program between police and schools designed to keep youth from becoming involved with drugs.
• Specializes officers that undergo additional training so they can be D.A.R.E officers.
• Teaches the importance for saying "no" in situations against drugs.

School Resource Officers (SROs)

• SRO stands for School Resource Officer.

• Sworn peace officers assigned to public schools for the purposes of crime prevention and education.

• Career law enforcement officers, with sworn authority, deployed in community-oriented policing

• Work in collaboration in schools and community based organizations.

• U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) provided $68 million that was awarded to hire and train 599 SROs in 289 communities throughout the United States.

• An Active Shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.

• Child Abuse refers to the physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual mistreatment of a child.

• Child Neglect is the failure to provide reasonably necessary care to a child.

• A Clearance Rate is the proportion of crimes known to the police that are solved (an arrest is made) versus all crimes known to the police.

• A Confidential Informant is a person who secretly provides information to law enforcement, often in return for money or an agreement not to prosecute the informant.

• An Informant is a person who provides helpful information to the police.

This lesson covers key terms and landmark cases in criminal justice. It includes definitions of legal terms like 'affidavit' and 'arrest warrant.' It also explores the implications of cases like Brown v. Mississippi and Escobedo v. Illinois.