CJ101 Chapter 6 Vocabulary

Consent Search

A permissible warrantless search of a person, vehicle, home, or other location based on a person with proper authority or the reasonable appearance of proper authority voluntarily granting permission for the search to take place.

Reasonable Suspicion

A police officer's belief based on articulable facts that would be recognized by others in a similar situation as indicating that criminal activity is afoot and necessitates further investigation that will intrude on an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy.

Probable Cause

An amount of reliable information indicating that it is more likely than not that evidence will be foud in a specific location or that a specific person is guilty of a crime.

Tennessee v. Garner (1985)

Deadly force may not be used against an unarmed and fleeing suspect unless necessary to prevent the escape and unless the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious injury to the officers or others.

"Public Safety" Exception

Exception to Miranda requirements that permits police to immediately question a suspect in custody without providing any warnings, when public safety would be jeopardized by their taking the time to supply the warnings.

"Good Faith" Exception

Exception to the exclustionary rule that permits the use of improperly obtained evidence when police officers acted in honest reliance on a defective statute, a warrant improperly issued by a magistrate, or a consent to search by someone who lacked authority to give such permission.

Totality of Circumstances

Flexible test established by the Supreme Court for identifying whether probable cause exists that permits the judge to determine whether the available evidence is both sufficient and reliable enough to issue a warrant.

Search

Government officials' examination of and hunt for evidence on a person or in a place in a manner that intrudes on reasonable expectations of privacy.

Stop

Government officials' interference with an individual's freedom of movement for a duration that typically lasts less than one hour and only rarely extends for as long as several hours.

United States v. Drayton (2002)

Judicial decision declaring that police officers are not required to inform people of their right to decline to be searched when police ask for consent to search.

Nix v. Williams (1984)

Legal decision in which the Supreme court created the "inevitable discovery" exception to the exclusionary rule.

Stop-and-Frisk Search

Limited search approved by the Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio that permits police officers to pat down the clothing of people on the street if there is reasonable suspicion of dangerous criminal activity.

Plain View Doctrine

Officers may examine and use as evidence, without a warrant, contraband or evidence that is in open view at a location where they are legally permitted to be.

Inventory Search

Permissible warrantless search of a vehicle that has been "impounded"--meaning that it is in police custody--so that police can make a record of the items contained in the vehicle.

Seizures

Situations in which police officers use their authority to deprive people of their liberty or property and which must not be "unreasonable" according to the Fourth Amendment.

United States v. Leon (1984)

Supreme Court decision announcing the "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule.

Weeks v. United States (1914)

Supreme Court decision applying the exclusionary rule as the remedy for improper searches by federal law enforcement officials.

Terry v. Ohio (1968)

Supreme Court decision endorsing police officers' authority to stop and frisk suspects on teh streets when there is reasonable suspicion that they are armed and involved in criminal activity.

Wolf v. Colorado (1949)

Supreme Court decision in which the Fourth Amendment was applied against searches by state and local police officers, but the exclusionary rule was not imposed as the remedy for violations of the Fourth Amendment by these officials.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Supreme Court decision that applied the exclustionary rule as the remedy for improper searches by state and local officials.

Chimel v. California (1969)

Supreme Court decision that endorsed warrantless searches for weapons and evidence in the immediate vicinity of people who are lawfully arrested.

"Inevitable Discovery" Rule

Supreme Court ruling that improperly obtained evidence can be used when it would later have been inevitably discovered by the police.

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

The objective standard deeloped by courts for determining whether a government intrusion into an individual's person or property constitutes a search because it interferes with teh individual's interests that are normally protected from government examination.

Exclusionary Rule

The principle that illegally obtained evidence must be excluded from trial.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

US Supreme Court decision declaring that suspects in custody must be informed of their rights to remain silent and be represented during questioning.

Illinois v. Gates (1983)

US Supreme Court decision that established the flexible totality of circumstances test for determining the existennce fo the probable cause needed for obtaining a search warrant.

Exigent Circumstances

When there is an immediate threat to public safety or the risk that evidence will be destroyed, officers may search, arrest, or question suspects withoug obtaining a warrant or following other usual rules of criminal procedure.

Affidavit

Written statement of fact, supported by oath or affirmation, submitted to judicial officers to fulfill the requirements of probable cause for obtaining a warrant.