Warrants & PC Flashcards
When police have sought and obtained a warrant, two ex ante judgements have been made. By whom were they made?
1) Officer
2) Magistrate
A proper Warrant Contains:
□ Particularity of place to be searched and things to be seized
□ Neutral and detached decision maker
□ Probable Cause
□ Time Frame
What 2 things would not meet the Neutral/Detached Decision Maker Requirement for a warrant?
® Connaly
◊ Cant have financial incentive for signing off on warrant
® Coolage
◊ Violated when someone in prosecutors office signs off on it
Does a judge always have to sign the Warrant?
No, For some small things non-judges can do it (like a clerk)
Knock and Announce Rules
-Knock and announce unless theres reasonable suspicion
-Have to knock, but can break down door after 15-20 seconds, especially in drug cases
-Not ok to detain someone who is not connected to the offense/home (a mile is way too far)
◊ Detention away from the house can alert those in the house to destroy evidence
-Blanket rule that occupants of a residence can be seized during a search temporarily
} No requirements - officer safety
PC cannot be based on…
intuition - need a fact or circumstance
Informants & Corroboration - what courts have found and looked at/factors:
□ Court found probable cause with corroborated police informant
□ Informant was also a known informant
□ Facts corroborated were not that of a crime - just innocent details
§ Once you corroborate all innocent details and the persons conduct, then we will assume the criminal conduct exists
□ Majority of facts corroborated
□ Personal relationship of tipster
□ Would maybe fail spinelli test because tip was anonymous
Standard applied to corroboration of informants:
Totality of the Circumstances
Spinelli 2 Pronged Test on Informant Providing Info
□ Reliability
□ Basis of Knowledge (veracity of info)
To establish PC from an informant, you are going to need something…
predictive and corroborated
Dog sniffs - If a dog sniff alerts you, is this reliable as to establish PC?
Yes
