CH 3 Review Q's: Introduction to the Fourth Amendment

Which of the following is true regarding the seizure of a person?

A person is seized if he or she is pulled over by the police while driving. (The seizure of a person does not have to be physical for the Fourth Amendment to be implicated.)

With reference to the reasonableness clause and the warrant clause, which of the following is the rule of thumb that has been established by the Supreme Court?

A search warrant should be procured whenever practical. (The general rule of thumb is that a search warrant (or an arrest warrant, in the case of a seizure of a person) should be procured whenever practical. If, however, there is an emergency or other such exception, such as a significant risk to public safety, a warrant may not be necessary.)

Probable cause is always required in which of the following scenarios?

All of the above - Arrests with warrants - Searches and seizures of property without warrants - -- Searches and seizures of persons without warrants

Administrative justification has been relied upon to justify searches in which of the following?

All of the above - Mandatory drug testing of public and private employees - Auto junkyards - Probation officers searching the home of probationers under their supervision

In determining what level of sensory enhancement is appropriate, the courts generally consider which of the following factors?

All of the above - The location of the place surveilled - The lawfulness of the vantage point - The nature of the activity surveilled (Factors courts use to consider whether a sensory enhancement device is appropriate include the nature of the place surveilled including, the nature of the activity surveilled, the care taken to ensure privacy, the lawfulness of the vantage point, the availability of sophisticated technology, and the extent to which the technology used enhances or replaces the natural senses.)

Which of the following factors are used to determine if an area is considered an ʺopen field?ʺ

All of the above - The proximity of the area to the house - The steps taken by the resident to protect the area from observation - The nature of the use to which the land/property is being put

For Fourth Amendment purposes, government officials can include:

All of the above - Police officers - Regulatory officials - Private security guards used in place of the police. (Individuals who perform clear law enforcement functions, either in the direct employment of the government or who are not employed by the government per se but function in the capacity of government officials, are considered government officials for Fourth Amendment purposes.)

________ is any unoccupied or undeveloped real property falling outside the curtilage of a home.

An open field (It does not trigger the protection of the Fourth Amendment because it is not a house.)

Officer Payne spotted a car on the freeway that was driving above the speed limit. The driver kept switching lanes, which led the officer to believe the individual was driving under the influence of alcohol. The officer turned on his lights and siren and signaled the driver to pull over. Officer Payne noticed that the driver's eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. In this case, which of the following can Office Payne use as a basis to justify stopping the vehicle without a warrant?

Articulable facts (Articulable facts are events that are witnessed and can be documented.)

Probable cause was defined by the U.S. Supreme Court in ________ as when ʺthe facts and circumstances within the officersʹ knowledge and of which they have reasonably trustworthy information [are] sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing that the suspect had committed or was committing an offense.ʺ

Beck v. Ohio

With regard to a search, when does justification need to be in place?

Before the search

To define when a search takes place, which two important factors need to be considered?

Government action and reasonable expectation of privacy

Exceptions to the reasonable expectation of privacy test of the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement:

Have been created by the Supreme Court. (The Fourth Amendment proscribes all unreasonable searches and seizures, and it is a cardinal principle that searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, subject to a few specifically established and well delineated exceptions.)

With reference to seizure of property, when is a piece of property considered to be in the individual's actual possession?

If he or she is physically holding or grasping the property.

Paul, a suspect in a murder case, is helping the police department with the investigation. He was arrested but not tried as he agreed to help the police by providing them with information. Paul speaks to his associates and reports conversations and other information that he gathers to the police. Which of the following most accurately describes Paul's role in the investigation?

Informant (Informants are not necessarily individuals connected to the criminal lifestyle—they can also be victims of crime, witnesses of crime, and other police officers.)

Which of the following statements is true of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures?

It is inapplicable when search and seizures are conducted by private individuals.

Wesley suspected that his neighbor, Adam, was storing illegal drugs in his house. This was merely a suspicion based on Adam's behavior and lifestyle, and Wesley had not witnessed any criminal activity. He contacted the police and was informed that they could not act upon his suspicion, because there was not enough evidence to support probable cause. Wesley entered Adam's residence without an invitation and found illegal drugs. He handed them over to the police, who used it as evidence to file a case against Adam. Which of the following statements is true of the evidence obtained by Wesley?

It will likely be permissible as he acted as a private individual. (The Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures has been limited by the courts to conduct that is governmental in nature. Thus, when a private individual seizes evidence or otherwise conducts a search, the protections of the Fourth Amendment are not triggered.)

In the early twentieth century, which of the following was not protected from searches and seizures by the Constitution?

Oral communication (Oral communications fell outside the scope of the Fourth Amendment, so surveillance of conversations, regardless of how it was pursued, did not enjoy constitutional protections.)

In Fourth Amendment terms, nearly all personal items, including business records, letters, diaries, memos, and other forms of tangible documentary evidence can be defined as _____________.

Papers

A police officer suspects that a passerby who is acting erratically is high on PCP. He stops the man and frisks him. With reference to the Fourth Amendment, which of the following terms refers to the subject of the search in this instance?

Persons

________ is sufficient for police officers to engage in stop-and-frisk activities.

Reasonable suspicion

Which of the following best describes reasonable suspicion?

Reasonable suspicion is something below probable cause but above a hunch.

What test do the courts use to determine if evidence from a search and seizure is admissible in court?

Reasonableness (The second stage in the Fourth Amendment analysis requires focusing on the reasonableness of the search or seizure. In other words, once the protections of the Fourth Amendment were triggered, did the police act in line with Fourth Amendment requirements?)

________ is the term that refers to the activity of finding evidence to be used in a criminal prosecution.

Search

A scenario that is NOT a violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures?

Searching a barn for weapons after arresting a suspect in the barn

________ occurs when a police officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, intentionally restrains an individual's liberty in such a manner that a reasonable person would believe that he or she is not free to leave.

Seizure of a person

Sam was pulled over by a police officer while he was driving. The officer asked him to step out of the car and then asked him to search his vehicle. Sam willfully consented to the search and the officer found two small baggies of marijuana in the car. The officer took the marijuana, wrote Sam a ticket, and let him go on his way. The officer's actions will be considered a(n)________.

Seizure of property

Joseph is the defendant in a marijuana possession case. The prosecution provides as evidence marijuana seized by the police. Joseph's attorney tries to have the evidence excluded on the basis that it was obtained by violating his Fourth Amendment rights. In which of the following scenarios is the court most likely to permit the use of this evidence against Joseph?

The police seized the bag when Joseph dropped it when he ran away from a police officer who attempted to speak to him. (In California v. Hodari D. (499 U.S. 621 [1991]) the Supreme Court permitted the use of evidence that was obtained when the suspect discarded an item during a chase. The Court permitted the evidence as the suspect was still in flight when the evidence was obtained, and a seizure of person had not yet occurred.)

The police suspect that Valarie murdered Luke. She was taken into custody and questioned, but the police did not obtain any information about the murder. Without a warrant, a police officer plants a recording device outside her pool house. Using this device, the police gather information that incriminates Valarie. Which of the following reasons is most likely to be cited to exclude this information from the evidence against Valarie?

The police violated Valarie's reasonable expectation of privacy. (In Katz v. United States (389 U.S. 347 [1967]), the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment definition of a search turns on the concept of privacy. As the recording device breaches Valarie's reasonable expectation of privacy, the evidence is likely to be excluded.)

The Fourth Amendment contains which two basic clauses?

The reasonableness and warrant clauses Excellent! (The Fourth Amendment contains two basic clauses: the reasonableness clause, which proscribes unreasonable searches and seizures, is followed by the warrant clause, which says that "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.")

The courts consider which of the following factors when distinguishing between open fields and curtilage?

The use to which the land/property is being put (The physical setting in which police activity takes place is also important in determining whether the Fourth Amendment applies. Curtilage is the area to which extends the intimate activity associated with the sanctity of a man's home and the privacies of life. This definition should be contrasted with the definition of an open field, which is any unoccupied or undeveloped real property falling outside the curtilage of a home.)

A search occurs when government actors engage in activity that infringes on one's ______________.

reasonable expectation of privacy (Coupled with government action, the Fourth Amendment is triggered only when the law enforcement activity in question infringes on a person's reasonable expectation of privacy.)