Fourth Amendment Exceptions Review

Name the Fourth Amendment Exception Doctrines

1. Search Incident to Lawful Arrest

2. Automobile Exception

3. Consent

4. Plain View

5. Exigency

6. Admin

What is required to trigger the search incident to lawful arrest doctrine?

A lawful custodial arrest

True or False: With no probable cause or reasonable suspicion, an officer can search any containers found on a person pursuant to a search incident to arrest.

True

If a lawful arrest is conducted in a home, can the police look inside a closet within the room where the arrest is conducted, even if they have no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to look inside?

Yes! No justification is needed to look inside a closet in a room where someone is lawfully arrested.

When may an officer conduct a protective sweep of a home after conducting a lawful arrest inside the home?

When there is reason to believe that an accomplice may be hiding in the home.

If someone is pulled over for speeding and is lawfully arrested for speeding, under what circumstances could a police officer search the glove compartment of the car without any reason to suspect something unlawful could be found there?

If the arrested person is “unsecured” (i.e. not handcuffed and not in the back of a police vehicle).

Is probable cause required for a search under the automobile search exception?

Yes! This is an exception to the warrant requirement, but probable cause is still required.

Would a car that does not have wheels and is clearly not driveable qualify to be searched under the automobile exception?

No

Can a mobile home be searched under the automobile exception?

Yes, but only if it is mobile (or if it appears to be mobile).

If police have probable cause to believe a 4-foot stick that was used in an assault is located in a car, could they search the glove compartment under the automobile exception?

No, because the 4-foot stick could not fit in the glove compartment.

Can police search a car parked in someone’s driveway without a warrant if they have probable cause?

No, they can’t. This is the curtilage of the home, so a warrant is required to conduct a search in this area.

Is probable cause required for an officer to conduct a search under the consent exception?

No. Police don’t need a warrant or probable cause once an individual gives consent.

Why would consent to search be invalid if given while an officer is holding a gun to the person who consent’s head?

Consent must be voluntary.

Can a roommate give police consent to search their home even if the person police are looking for evidence about is not home?

Yes, because a roommate would have actual AND apparent authority.

Can a landlord give consent to search a home that’s rented to a tenant?

No, because the tenant has a right to privacy.

Name 2 factors courts consider to assess whether consent is voluntarily given.

-Manner of questioning

-Time of day

-State of mind of person giving consent

-# of officers

-Display of weapons

-Location

-Whether person knew of right to say no

-Whether Miranda warning given

Does the plain view exception apply to contraband an officer sees while making a lawful arrest in a home, even if the item is outside the arrestee’s wingspan?

Yes, as long as it’s in plain view in the room where the officer needs to be in order to effectuate the arrest (or an immediately adjoining area where someone could attack from).

If an officer is lawfully in a house and moves something in order to determine whether there is probable cause to believe it is evidence of a crime, does that fall within the scope of the plain view doctrine?

No--even a small movement qualifies as a search, so moving the item would take it outside the plain view exception.

If an officer sneaks into the curtilage of a house with no probable cause (and no emergency is taking place), peers into a window, and sees illegal drugs inside the home, would this fall under the plain view exception?

No, because the entry into the curtilage was not justified and therefore violates the Fourth Amendment.

A police officer lawfully stops & frisks a woman under Terry v. Ohio. During the frisk, the officer feels a small lump in her pocket, and the officer doesn’t know what it is. The officer squeezes and manipulates the object to ascertain what it is. Does this fall within the scope of the plain view doctrine?

No. Although the plain view doctrine has been extended to create a “plain feel” doctrine, the incriminating nature of the object must be “immediately apparent.”

Name the 3 requirements for the plain view doctrine to apply:

1. Officer must be in lawful position

2. The incriminating nature of the object must be immediately apparent (i.e. no movement or manipulation)

3. The officer must have probable cause to believe the object is illegal

Can exigency ever justify the warrantless entry into a home to pursue someone police have probable cause to believe committed a minor nonjailable offense?

Yes, it’s possible exigency would justify this intrusion, although the Court has said it would be “unusual.”

Give a clear-cut example of when the exigency requirement would allow officers to enter a home without a warrant.

Various answers.

For example, police have probable cause to believe an individual committed murder, and the individual runs into the house to evade capture.

A child calls 911 but hangs up mid-sentence. The 911 operator can hear screaming in the background of the call. Police go to the home, and the adults in the home tell them to go away. What is the doctrine that would most likely authorize their entry to check on the wellbeing of the child?

The emergency aid exception.

Under the emergency aid exception, must police have probable cause to believe a crime was committed?

No, this is where the emergency aid doctrine is different from the exigent circumstances exception. No probable cause required for emergency aid--just an objectively reasonable belief entry is needed to assist an injured person, or to protect an occupant from imminent injury.

Name 3 factors courts consider to determine whether the exigency exception applies:

-Gravity of offense

-Whether suspect is armed

-More than probable cause

-Strong belief suspect is inside

-Suspect will escape unless apprehended

-Time of entry

-Reasonableness of officer’s conduct

Is probable cause required to conduct a search under the administrative search exception?

No, this is an exception to both the probable cause and the warrant requirements.

Police have reason to believe that a high school student is selling $5 portions of their mother’s medical marijuana on the school campus. Based on this reasonable suspicion, could a teacher ask the student to take off their clothing to see if they are concealing marijuana?

No, this sounds pretty similar to Safford v. Redding. Although reasonable suspicion is all that’s needed for a search at school, this would likely qualify as excessively intrusive in light of the nature of the infraction.

You visited Tijuana to volunteer to assist asylum-seekers through a legal nonprofit. You are driving back across the border, and a Border Patrol officer tells you to open your trunk so they can look around. They have no probable cause, and you don’t consent. Is Border Patrol allowed to look in the trunk under the Fourth Amendment?

Yes, under the administrative search exception that applies at borders no warrant or probable cause are required.

In an effort to find people transporting narcotics in their vehicles, police set up a checkpoint along a road known as a common route for transporting drugs. They stop every fifth car and ask a series of questions, following the same protocol for each stop. Would the checkpoint be lawful under the administrative search exception?

No, because the purpose of a checkpoint must be for public safety (i.e. to prevent DUI accidents) rather than criminal investigation.

When can an inventory search of a vehicle and all of its contents, including containers, be lawfully conducted?

No warrant or probable cause needed for an inventory search--just that the car is impounded according to department policy.

Name as many exceptions to the probable cause and/or warrant requirement that you can think of:

-Terry Stops & Frisks

-Consent

-Admin Searches

-Exigent Circumstances