CJ420 Exam 1 Flashcards

What is the difference between substantive criminal law and criminal procedure?

Substantive criminal law defines the elements of crimes. Criminal procedure regulates how the government investigates, arrests, searches, prosecutes, tries, and appeals criminal cases.

What is jurisdiction?

A court's legal power to hear a case.

What is original jurisdiction?

The authority to hear a case at the beginning, before appeal. The Supreme Court has limited original jurisdiction, including some disputes between states.

What is a writ of certiorari?

An order by which the Supreme Court agrees to review a lower-court decision. The Court is not required to hear every appeal.

What is the Rule of Four?

Four Supreme Court Justices must vote to hear a case.

What is stare decisis?

The principle of following precedent: 'to stand by the decision.'

What is the difference between a majority, concurring, dissenting, and plurality opinion?

A majority opinion has support from a majority of Justices. A concurrence agrees with the result but uses different reasoning. A dissent disagrees with the result. A plurality has no single reasoning supported by a majority.

What did Marbury v. Madison establish?

Judicial review: courts may determine whether legislative or executive action is consistent with the Constitution.

What is the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment in criminal procedure?

Its Due Process Clause is the vehicle through which many Bill of Rights protections apply to the states; its Equal Protection Clause limits discriminatory government action.

What is selective incorporation?

Applying particular Bill of Rights protections to the states when they are fundamental to liberty and justice.

What is total incorporation?

The theory that the entire Bill of Rights applies to the states.

What is fundamental fairness?

A case-by-case approach asking whether a right is fundamental to ordered liberty and therefore applies to the states.

Name examples of rights that have not been incorporated according to the review packet.

The Third Amendment

the federal grand-jury indictment requirement

the Seventh Amendment civil jury right

the excessive-bail provision

What happened in Rochin v. California?

Police forcibly pumped mans stomach to recover swallowed drugs. The Court held that this conduct 'shocked the conscience' and violated Fourteenth Amendment due process.

What must a defendant generally show for selective prosecution?

Discriminatory effect and discriminatory intent, including evidence that similarly situated people of another race or group were not prosecuted.

What is the presumption of regularity?

Courts presume criminal justice decision makers, especially prosecutors, acted in good faith rather than with discriminatory intent unless there is clear evidence otherwise.

What four areas are expressly protected by the Fourth Amendment?

Persons, houses, papers, and effects.

What is a search under Katz's reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test?

The person must have actually (subjective) expected privacy, and society must recognize that expectation as reasonable. (this is the concurring opinion)

What did Katz v. United States change?

It moved Fourth Amendment analysis beyond physical property intrusion and protected a reasonable expectation of privacy, including a phone-booth conversation.

What is the trespassory or property-based test?

A search occurs when the government physically intrudes on a constitutionally protected area to obtain information.

What is the third-party doctrine?

Information voluntarily exposed to another person or third party generally receives reduced privacy protection; a false friend or informant may report what a suspect says.

What did Carpenter v. United States hold?

police used carpenters cell phone data to track where he went with his phone and linked him to robberies.

This violated the 4th amendment because the cell-phone is “almost a feature of human anatomy.

Accessing CSLI records invaded Carpenter’s “reasonable expectation of privacy in the whole of his physical movements.”

• They did not get rid of the third party doctrine they just made an exception for cell phones

What is the plain-view doctrine?

An officer may seize an item without a warrant when lawfully positioned and there is probable cause to believe the item is evidence of a crime. Similar ideas apply to plain smell, feel, and hearing.

What is the difference between a home, curtilage, and open fields?

The home receives the highest protection. Curtilage is the immediately surrounding area associated with home life. Open fields are generally not protected, even if fenced or posted.

What is an encounter?

A voluntary, noncoercive interaction in which the person is free to decline questions or leave; no legal justification is required.

What is a Terry stop?

A temporary investigative detention supported by reasonable suspicion that criminal activity has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur.

What is the legal standard for a frisk?

Reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous. The frisk is a limited pat-down for weapons.

What is reasonable suspicion?

An objective, particularized belief based on specific and articulable facts plus rational inferences that criminal activity may be occurring.

What did Terry v. Ohio hold?

Chilton and Terry were standing a street corner at 2:30 pm. Plain-clothes Officer McFadden began to observe them because “they didn’t look right to me.” Chilton and Terry wandered from the street corner, peered into a store front window, then walked back to the corner. They repeated this behavior for 10-12 minutes. McFadden approached the pair and, without a warrant, patted them down and discovered concealed weapons. They were charged with carrying concealed weapons.

Held: 4th ammeandment rights were not violated. A stop and frisk is a Fourth Amendment seizure and search, but it is reasonable without a warrant when supported by reasonable suspicion.

A stop is a seizure 

• J. Douglas, dissenting

  • ”Any “seizure” of a person can only be “reasonable” under the Fourth Amendment if we require the police to possess “probable cause” before they seize him.”

What did Illinois v. Wardlow hold?

Unprovoked flight in a high-crime area can contribute to reasonable suspicion, but presence in a high-crime area alone is not enough.

Can an anonymous tip support reasonable suspicion?

Yes, depending on the totality of circumstances, including reliability, basis of knowledge, police corroboration, contemporaneous reporting, and the danger involved.

What did Reid v. Georgia hold about drug-courier profiles?

Matching a profile alone does not establish reasonable suspicion; officers need specific additional facts.

What is probable cause?

A practical, common-sense fair probability that a person committed a crime or that evidence will be found in a particular place. It does not require certainty.

What is the difference between a stop and an arrest?

A stop is brief investigation based on reasonable suspicion. An arrest is custody based on probable cause and may last hours or days.

Must an officer say 'you are under arrest' for an arrest to occur?

No. A de facto arrest can occur based on the totality of circumstances and the reasonable-person standard.

What is collective knowledge?

When officers work together as an investigative team, the team may rely on information known collectively even if one officer does not personally know every fact.

What are the Aguilar-Spinelli factors?

Veracity or reliability of the informant, and basis of knowledge - how the informant knows the information.

What did Illinois v. Gates change?

It adopted a totality-of-the-circumstances approach to informant information, considering veracity, basis of knowledge, corroboration, predictions, and other circumstances together.

What is the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause?

Reasonable suspicion is the lower standard for a brief investigative stop. Probable cause is the higher standard required for an arrest or warrant and means a fair probability of criminal activity or evidence.

What kinds of information can contribute to probable cause?

Direct observations, reliable informants, corroborated hearsay, and the collective knowledge of officers working together can all contribute to probable cause.

What did Atwater v. Lago Vista hold?

If an officer has probable cause to believe a person committed even a minor offense in the officer's presence, a custodial arrest may be constitutional.

What did Payton v. New York hold?

police generally need an arrest warrant to enter a person's home to arrest them, UNLESS they have

Absent consent or exigent circumstances

•  “whether the police have probable cause to believe that they must act immediately and that they do not have time to secure a warrant.”)

  • Hot pursuit

  • Public Safety

  • Destruction of Evidence

  • Flight (from area or jurisdiction)

  • Emergency assistance

What are exigent circumstances?

An urgent need to act immediately without time to obtain a warrant, such as hot pursuit, public safety, destruction of evidence, flight, or emergency assistance.

What did Welsh v. Wisconsin hold?

The gravity of the underlying offense matters; entry into a home to apprehend someone for a noncriminal drunk-driving offense was not justified by exigency on those facts.

What are the basic rules from Tennessee v. Garner?

deadly force against a fleeing suspect requires an objectively reasonable belief of a significant threat.

What is a de facto arrest?

An arrest that occurs based on the totality of circumstances and what a reasonable person would understand, even without the officer using the words 'under arrest.'

What does probable cause for an arrest require?

A fair probability, based on the facts known to police, that the person committed a crime; certainty is not required.

What is the general home-entry rule for an arrest?

Police generally need an arrest warrant to enter a person's home, unless the person consents or exigent circumstances justify immediate action.

What must a search warrant contain?

Probable cause, support by oath or affirmation, particularity describing the place and items, and issuance by a neutral judicial officer.

What is the particularity requirement?

The warrant must identify the place to search and the people or things to seize with enough detail to limit officer discretion and prevent a general search.

What did United States v. Grubbs hold about anticipatory warrants?

They are constitutional when there is probable cause that the triggering object or event will occur and the object will arrive at the location by execution time.

Rule 41 - execution of a warrant

The packet identifies a 10-day federal execution period; state rules may vary.

What is the general knock-and-announce rule?

When serving a warrant, officers generally must knock and announce their presence before entering.

What did Wilson v. Arkansas hold?

The knock-and-announce principle is part of Fourth Amendment reasonableness.

When may officers enter without waiting after knocking?

When particular facts create reasonable suspicion that announcing would be dangerous, futile, or allow destruction of evidence.

What did Richards v. Wisconsin hold?

A no-knock entry may be reasonable when the facts support reasonable suspicion that knocking would be dangerous, futile, or facilitate destruction of evidence; there is no automatic drug-crime exception.

What is a search incident to arrest?

A warrantless search authorized by a valid arrest, generally including the arrestee and the area within immediate control or 'grab area.'

What did Chimel v. California hold?

A search incident to arrest does not authorize searching the entire home; it is limited to the person and the grab area where weapons or evidence could be accessed.

What did Riley v. California hold?

Police generally need a warrant to search the digital contents of a cell phone seized from an arrestee.

What does contemporaneous mean for a search incident to arrest?

The search must occur immediately before, during, or immediately after the arrest.

What did Arizona v. Gant hold?

After an arrestee is secured and cannot access the vehicle, police cannot search the passenger compartment incident to arrest unless it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.

What did Whren v. United States hold?

An objectively valid traffic violation can justify a stop even if the officer has an ulterior or pretextual motive.

What is the purpose of a search incident to arrest?

To protect officers from weapons and prevent the arrestee from destroying or concealing evidence.

What is the difference between searching a phone and seizing it during an arrest?

Police may seize the physical phone, but it generally requires a warrant to search its digital contents.

What makes consent valid?

Consent must be voluntary under the totality of the circumstances and cannot result from coercion or duress. The prosecution bears the burden by a preponderance of the evidence.

Can a person limit or withdraw consent?

Yes. A person may limit the places or items covered and may withdraw consent; police then need another legal basis to continue.

What is actual authority?

The consenting person has common authority through mutual use and joint access or control for most purposes.

What is apparent authority?

Consent may be valid when officers reasonably, though mistakenly, believe the person has common authority.

Give examples of third-party consent limits.

A roommate may consent to common areas but not another roommate's exclusive bedroom. A landlord generally cannot consent to a tenant's apartment. A parent may consent for a child's space, but not vice versa.

Who has the burden of proving consent was voluntary?

The prosecution, by a preponderance of the evidence.

Can consent authorize a search without probable cause or a warrant?

Yes, if the consent is voluntary and the search stays within its scope.

What is the difference between actual and apparent authority?

Actual authority exists in fact through common access or control. Apparent authority exists when police reasonably, though mistakenly, believe the person has authority.

What did United States v. Armstong hold?

In order to claim selective prosecution (discrimination), you need clear evidence of discriminatory INTENT and EFFECT, and if you don’t have that evidence then the pressumption of regularity applies

What did California v. Greenwood hold?

Greenwood was suspected of dealing narcotics so the police had the trash company pick up his trash separately from his neighbors to find narcotics without a warrant.

4th amendment does not apply, his rights were not violated due to abandoned property rule

What did Kyllo v. United States hold?

Kyllo was suspected of growing weed in his house so police used a thermal imaging technology device from the street to detect heat patterns in his house then got a search warrant to go in.

This violated the 4th amendment because the technology used was not in general use to find details that could not have been found otherwise without going inside the home. 

What is the basic rule from Graham v. Gardner?

Excessive force is judged under objective Fourth Amendment reasonableness.