Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement Interactions
Officer Brady
hates doing paperwork, and warrants require lots of paperwork. He
also hate criminals and want to see one in particular, known locally
as Stereo Sam, put away. So shift after shift he sits in his car on
the street outside Stereo Sam’s garage, hoping for a glimpse
of the stolen goods he believes are being kept there. Sure enough,
one lonely Saturday night Officer Brady observes Stereo Sam open his
garage door and place 14 car stereos in a pile in the corner. He jumps
from his patrol car (accidentally dropping his donut from his lap
as he does so) arrests Sam and seizes the evidence. At Stereo Sam’s
criminal trial the seized evidence should be:
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On a warm
summer night Officer Dozey is half-asleep in his unmarked police car on
Main Street with the windows rolled down to catch to summer breeze. He
is alert enough to overheard Cartman and Kyle arguing about who gets to
keep the jewelry they just stole from down the street. Officer Dozey deftly
leaps from his vehicle and orders the boys to stop and turn around. While
turning, both boys place their hands in their pockets. Dozey frisks them,
finding a necklace, a large sum of money, and some drugs. He does not
find a weapon.
Evaluate the following statement: The evidence Officer Dozey found on the boys must be excluded as evidence in a trial against them because the “stop & frisk” violated their Fourth Amendment rights. |
Officer Peddy
has been engaged in a foot chase of a suspected rapist for several minutes.
Peddy is in good shape, and at no time has the suspect been more than
one-half block ahead. After turning a corner onto a residential street,
Peddy realizes that the suspect must have entered one of the doorways,
as he is nowhere to be seen. Which of the following is a list of the options
from which Peddy may legally choose:
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Officer Trint
Westwood is a tough-guy cop looking to get guns off the street. Working
off an informant tip, he tracks down Simon, who he suspects is carrying
illegal long-barrel rifles in his car on his way to sell them this afternoon.
He searches the main compartment of the vehicle and the trunk, finding
only a film canister under the driver’s seat. Opening the film canister
reveals some marijuana, which Westwood seizes. He arrests Simon mumbling
something about “at least he’ll be off the street for a few
hours.” Can the marijuana be used as evidence against Simon?
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Charles Jones
is arrested for excessive speeding in the desert one night. When Officer
Courir arrests him he searches the area under the driver’s seat
and finds an Acme Explosives box which contains an Acme Stun Gun,
one of the more dangerous stun guns on the market, if not one of
the more difficult models to use without risk of injury to the operator.
He then searches the trunk in which he finds an Acme Rocket Launcher.
Which evidence will be excluded at trial?
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Strolling
through the neighborhood one night Officer N. Chalant is knocking
on doors asking people if he can come in to look around a bit. At
11:30 p.m. he knocks on the door to 2120 East 53rd Street and a woman
in a negligee answers. He asks if he can come in and look around a
bit, explaining that he’s
looking for evidence of a recent neighborhood burglary. “Well I’m
not sure I can let you in, Officer,” she replies. “It would
be a great help, ma’am, and I’ll be in and out before you
know it,” Officer Chalant said. “Well, alright, I guess.”
Once inside, Officer Chalant notices an expensive painting which he knows
was stolen during the burglary. He arrests the woman and seizes the
painting. As it turns out, the woman was merely house-sitting. Was the
search proper?
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