5/21 Flashcards
(40 cards)
The Exclusionary Rule
A judge-made doctrine. Evidence obtained in violation of a federal statutory or constitutional provision is inadmissible in court.
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
Evidence obtained by exploiting prior unconstitutional conduct is inadmissible in the prosecution’s case-in-chief. To admit, prosecutors must break the causal chain.
Limits on Exclusionary Rule
(1) Impeachment Exception
(2) Knock and Announce Violations
(3) Good Faith Exception (except if police conduct deliberate, reckless, or grossly negligent)
Breaks in Fruit of Poison Tree Causal Link
(1) Independent Source
(2) Inevitable Discovery
(3) Attenuation
Fruit of Poison tree Standing
Remember 4A Standing.
Cannot object if no personal reasonable expectation of privacy.
Parental Consent to Search
Warrantless search okay when given consent by an occupant of the home.
Where a parent has general access to a room occupied by a child, the parent can give a valid consent to a general search of the room (even if the child is an adult).
Warrant Execution-Search of Persons
A search warrant does not authorize the police to search persons found on the premises who are not named in the warrant.
If a search is unconstitutional, it does not matter that it was authorized by statute. To the extent that the statute authorizes a search in violation of the Fourth Amendment, it is unconstitutional.
Plain View Exception to Warrantless Seizure
(1) must be legitimately on the premises where the item is found; (2) the item must be evidence, contraband, or a fruit or instrumentality of a crime; (3) the item must be in plain view; and (4) it must be immediately apparent (i.e., probable cause) that the item is evidence, contraband, or a fruit or instrumentality of a crime.
Reasons Permitting Warrantless Search of a Vehicle
(1) SITA (if unsecured or reasonable belief will find evidence of the crime being arrested for)
(2) Under the stop and frisk exception, an officer may order the occupant of a vehicle out of the car and search the passenger compartment if the officer reasonably believes that the occupant may be dangerous.
(3) Once a vehicle has been impounded, the police may conduct an inventory search as part of standard procedure.
(4) Under the automobile exception, the police may search a vehicle without a warrant if they have probable cause to do so, and they may seize any contraband that they find.
Searching & Arrest Warrants
Absent exigent circumstances, the police executing an arrest warrant may not search for the subject of the warrant in the home of a third party without first obtaining a separate search warrant for the home. If the police do execute an arrest warrant at the home of a third party without obtaining a search warrant for the home, the arrest is still valid but evidence of any crime found in the home cannot be used against the owner of the home because it is the fruit of an unconstitutional search.
Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination
Any person in any proceeding may refuse to answer a question if their response might incriminate them. The privilege is only available for compelled testimonial or compelled evidence.
Miranda Warnings
(1) Right to remain silent (2) anything they say will be used against them (3) right to attorney (4) right to appointed attorney if they cannot afford one.
Required when a suspect is in custodial interrogation.
Custodial = (1) Doesn’t feel free to terminate the interrogation & (2) same inherently coercive pressure as station house questioning.
Interrogation=Any words/conduct by police they should know will likely elicit an incriminating response.
Types of Pretrial Identifications
(1) Lineups: Witness is asked to identify the perpetrator from a group.
(2) Showups: One-on-one confrontation between the witness and the suspect.
(3) Photo arrays/Personal Affect: Witness is shown a series of photos and asked if they see the perpetrator among them/police take physical evidence like handwriting & fingerprints.
There is NO 5A right to counsel under Miranda. 6A applies to (1) lineups and (2) showups if post-indictment.
5A & 6A does NOT apply to photo arrays/personal affects.
All three can violate 14A Due Process if highly unnecessarily suggestive.
When 6A Right to Counsel Does Not Apply
B3P2D2L
• B – Blood / handwriting / voice samples
• P – Photo identifications
• P – preliminary hearings for PC to detain)
• P – Post-conviction proceedings
• D – Discretionary appeals
• D – Detention proceedings (parole/probation revocation)
• L – Lineups (precharge/investigative)
• L – Leave (brief recess during D’s testimony)
Remedy for Violation of Pretrial
Identification 6A Rights
Exclusion from trial unless the in-court identification would be supported by an independent source (saw D at scene, specific description for police, or certainty)
If a detainee invokes his Miranda right to counsel
The police may NOT question him about an unrelated crime.
This is different from the rule for when the detainee merely invokes his right to remain silent, in which instance the police may question about a different crime if they scrupulously honor the request.
6A Right to Confront Witnesses & co-defendants
A defendant in a criminal prosecution has the right to confront adverse witnesses at trial. If two persons are tried together and one has given a confession that implicates the other, the right of confrontation generally prohibits the use of that statement because the other defendant cannot compel the confessing co-defendant to take the stand for cross-examination.
Miranda Impeachment Exception
A confession obtained in violation of Miranda, but otherwise voluntary, can be used for the limited purpose of impeaching a defendant who testifies at trial.
But in contrast, an involuntary confession cannot be used to impeach.
Double Jeopardy–Same Offense
Derives from the Fifth Amendment and has been incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment.
Two crimes are the same offense unless each crime requires proof of an additional element that the other does not require, even though some facts may be necessary to prove both crimes.
Ex No DJ- Crime 1 = A, B, C; Crime 2 = A, B, D.
Ex DJ- Crime 1=A, B; Crime 2 = A, B, C.
Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination
A person may refuse to answer a question on grounds of self-incrimination. Criminal defendants can blanketly assert; but by taking the stand they waive the ability to assert. All others have to assert it in response to particular questions.
Failure to do so in earlier proceedings (civil or criminal) bars ability to assert in other proceedings.
Does not apply if immunity deal exists or statute of limitations has run; the person must be actively under threat of criminal prosecution.
The prosecution is not allowed to comment on the defendant’s failure to testify at trial, because the defendant is privileged under the Fifth Amendment to remain silent.
Separate Sovereigns
Double jeopardy bars retrial for the same offense by the same sovereign.
Same sovereign = states and municipalities within them.
State/federal or different states is NOT same sovereign—therefore not barred by DJ
Double Jeopardy Exceptions Permitting Retrial:
HIRBS
(1) Hung jury;
(2) mistrial due to manifest necessity (e.g., defendant is too ill to continue);
(3) retrial after a successful appeal by defendant;
(4) defendant breaches a plea bargain agreement; or
(5) separate sovereigns of states and municipalities within them.
Right to a Speedy Trial
LARP
Determining a violation is made by an evaluation of the totality of the circumstances, and the following factor:
(i) length of the delay,
(ii) reason for the delay,
(iii) whether the defendant asserted his right, and
(iv) prejudice to the defendant.
5A Right to Remain Silent as to Incriminating Others
A defendant’s refusal to cooperate with an investigation of the criminal conspiracy of which he was a member may properly be considered in imposing sentence. This is because the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent does not afford a privilege to refuse to incriminate others.
