criminal procedure

Criminal Procedure

Chapter 6

Copyright © 2007 Thomson Delmar Learning

Objectives

• Define arrest, and explain the authority of a firefighter to make an arrest.

• Explain the difference between criminal and administrative search warrants.

• Identify at least six exceptions to the search warrant requirement.


• Explain the constitutional limitations upon a firefighter conducting a cause and origin determination as part of an investigation after a fire.

• Explain what is required to constitute an attempted crime.

Objectives


• Define accessory before the fact, accessory after the fact, and aider and abettor.

• Define a criminal conspiracy and explain the liability of each coconspirator.

Objectives


What Is an Arrest?

• Arrest– Lawful control of one person over another– Depriving person of his or her liberty

• Arrest involves: – Authority to make an arrest– Asserting that authority to restrain the person


Authority to Make an Arrest

• Citizen’s arrest• Reasonable force to effectuate arrest• Peace officers• Detention must be reasonable

– Some states limited to two hours without charges


Liability for Mistakes

• Peace officers – Privilege when making an arrest that later turns out

to be wrong– Immune from suits for false arrest and battery

• Citizens enjoy no such privileges


Arrest Warrants

• Probable cause requires an arrest warrant • Police must apply to a judge or magistrate for an

arrest warrant


• Judge or magistrate– Must be satisfied that crime has been committed

and the defendant committed it • Arrest warrant authorizes peace officer to take

defendant into custody

Arrest Warrants


Criminal Procedure

• Criminal charges can be initiated in three ways:1. Complaint2. Information3. Indictment


Search and Seizure

• Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by federal government

• Fourth Amendment applies to states and municipalities through the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause


• The Exclusionary Rule– Evidence seized by an unlawful search may not be

used in court– Limited to the person whose privacy interests were

violated by the search

Search and Seizure


Search Warrant Requirement

• Issued by a neutral magistrate• Must describe place or person to be searched and

property to be seized• Probable cause

– Belief that a crime has been committed


Warrantless Searches

• Valid warrantless searches– Plain view – Consent– Stop and frisk (Terry stop) – Incident to arrest


• Valid warrantless searches– Vehicles– Open fields and abandoned property– Exigent circumstances

Warrantless Searches


Fire-Scene Exception

• Initial entry by firefighters into a building to extinguish a fire – Constitutionally justified as an exigent circumstance

exception to the warrant requirement • Once lawfully present


• Firefighters and investigators – May remain on scene without a warrant for a

reasonable period of time after the fire has been extinguished

– To conduct their investigation

Fire-Scene Exception


Chain of Custody

• Required for evidence to be admissible at trial• Must be able to document an unbroken chain of

custody from the moment evidence is seized until the evidence is introduced at trial


Custodial Interrogation and Miranda Warnings

• Miranda rights• Applies to custodial interrogation• Exclusionary rule applies to information obtained in

violation of Miranda


Accomplice Liability

• Principal– Directly involved in crime

• Accessory – Helped in planning crime

• Newer approach– Aider and abettor


Conspiracy

• Agreement to commit a crime• Conspiring to commit a crime • All co-conspirators can be liable for crimes

committed by any of the other co-conspirators – In furtherance of the conspiracy


Attempts

• Attempts to commit crimes punishable as crimes• Requires same mental state as the crime• Requires an act in furtherance of attempt

– Some states demand a more substantial act


Criminal Defenses

• Self-defense• Defense of others• Defense of property• Insanity• Entrapment• Statute of limitations


Self-Defense

• Right of reasonable force to defend oneself• Can meet level of force with same level of force

– Can meet deadly force with deadly force• Pre-emptive strike not allowed beforehand• Punitive strikes not allowed afterward

• Retreat rule


Defense of Others

• Can use reasonable force to defend another• Same rules as for self-defense

– No pre-emptive strikes– No punitive strikes


Defense of Property

• Reasonable force to protect property• Cannot resort to deadly force merely to protect

property


Insanity Defense

• Most states consider it a defense• In some states it is a mitigating factor

– Guilty but insane• Double-edged sword

– Minimizes or eliminates criminal responsibility– Can be institutionalized for life


Entrapment

• Affirmative defense to a crime• Law enforcement personnel induced a normally law-

abiding person to commit an offense• Some states focus on defendant’s propensity to

commit such crimes


Statute of Limitations

• How long after a crime has been committed that someone can be charged

• Key action is charged, not tried or convicted• Murder does not have statute of limitation


Summary

• Arrests• Criminal charging• Searches and seizures• Attempted crimes


• Conspiracies• Parties to a crime• Criminal defenses

Summary

criminal procedure

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