Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Police and Law

Legal Limitations on Police Investigations

  • Bill of Rights embodies American values regarding individual rights
    • Judges must interpret the Constitution to balance crime control and individual rights.
  • Search and seizure concepts
    • Search: actions by police that intrude on a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy.
    • Seizure: use of authority to deprive someone of liberty or property
    • e.g., arrest
    • A stop is a brief interference with a person’s freedom that can be measured in minutes, and police must have reasonable suspicion to stop most of the time.
  • Plain view doctrine: permits officers to notice and use as evidence visible items

Use of force and the Fourth Amendment

  • Tennessee v. Garner (1985):
    • police may not use deadly force in apprehending fleeing felons unless they must to keep the suspect from escaping and the officer has probable cause that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury.
    • Determined from the officer’s perspective (Graham)
  • To arrest a suspect and take them into custody, the police need probable cause, showing that sufficient evidence exists to make it likely the suspect committed the crime.
    • Warrants require probable cause, affirmation by affidavit (states what happened), particular description
    • Probable cause is determined by the totality of the circumstances.

Warrantless Searches

  • Special needs beyond the normal purposes of law enforcement
    • Airport metal detectors, sobriety checkpoints
  • Stop and frisk on the streets
    • Terry v. Ohio: officer may frisk a person briefly stopped
  • Search incident to a lawful arrest
    • Chimel v. California: allows weapon search during arrest
  • Marilyn v. Keen (spelling?)
    • DNA cheek swabs
  • Exigent circumstances
    • Immediate threat to public safety or evidence
  • Consent search
    • Automobile searches (inventory)

Questioning suspects

  • Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination discourages police officers from using violent or coercive means to force a confession.
  • Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Suspects being taken into custody must be told four things before they are questioned.
    • They have the right to remain silent.
    • Any statement can and will be used against them.
    • They have the right to an attorney.
    • If they cannot afford an attorney, the state will provide one.
  • There is an exception for public safety.
  • Most interrogations must be videotaped.

Exclusionary Rule

  • Illegally obtained evidence must be excluded from trial
    • Weeks v. United States (1914): established rule in federal prosecutions
    • Wolf v. Colorado (1949): incorporated the Fourth Amendment
    • Mapp v. Ohio (1961): applied to states
  • Exceptions
    • Good faith (United States v. Leon)
    • Officer believes they’re following the proper procedures
    • Inevitable discovery (Nix v. Williams)