Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

Stop and Frisk

- Terry stop is brief detention for the purpose of investigating suspicious conduct - reasonable suspicion required (less than P/C) - it is a pat down of outer clothing and body to check for weapons **if P/C arises during Terry stop the detention can become an arrest and officer can conduct a full search incident to arrest Auto Stops: - vehicle properly stopped - officer reasonably believes driver or passenger is armed / dangerous - officer can conduct frisk of suspected person AND - may search vehicle so long as limited to areas where a weapon may be placed

Search Incident to Arrest

- arrest must be lawful - search and arrest must be contemporaneous in time and place - search can be conducted of the person and areas w/in the person's wingspan automobile search incident to arrest - police may search automobile incident to arrest ONLY IF: 1. arrestee is unsecured and still may gain access to the interior of the interior of the vehicle OR 2. the police reasonably believe that evidence of the offense for which the person was arrested may be found in the vehicle **does not include the trunk ** so long as search is valid any contraband found is admissible

Consent

- must be voluntary to be valid - anyone with apparent authority can consent

Third Party Consent

- when two or more people have equal right to use a piece of property either can consent to its warrantless search - where both are present and one consents but the other does not the person that does not consent controls - if non-consenting person is removed from property unrelated to the refusal the police may search upon consent of other occupant

Exceptions to Warrant Requirement

1. Search incident to ARREST 2. The Automobile Exception 3. Plain View 4. Consent 5. Stop and Frisk 6. Evanescent Evidence, Hot Pursuit, Special Needs Searches 7. Public school searches 8. opening international mail

Wiretapping and Eavesdropping

Always requires a warrant UNLESS - unreliable ear and uninvited ear Unreliable ear - everyone in society assumes the risk that the person to whom he is speaking will either consent to the govt monitoring the conversation or will be wired and therefore, has no 4th amendment objection on the basis that it was a warrantless search Uninvited ear - speaker has no 4th amendment right is she makes no attempt to keep the conversation private

Automobile Exception

An exception to the warrant requirement holding that police may search car based solely on probable cause. ONLY IF police have P/C they can search the entire car including interior compartments and trunk. They may also open any package, luggage or other container which could reasonably contain the item they had probable cause to look for whether that package or container is owned by the driver or the passenger ** P/C can arise after the car is stopped but must arise before anyone or anything is searched

Shocking Materials

Any act that "shocks the conscience" used to obtain evidence is unconstitutional

Inventory Searches

Before the incarceration of an arrestee, the police may search: 1. the arrestee's personal belongings and/or 2. the arrestee's entire vehicle

Evanescent Evidence

Evidence that tends to disappear or be destroyed. Often, police seek to justify a warrantless search on the ground that destruction of the evidence is imminent

Hot Pursuit

Hot pursuit of fleeing felon - if police are not within 15 min behind the fleeing felon it is not valid hot pursuit exception - when in hot pursuit police can enter anyone's home w/o a warrant and any evidence in plain view will be admissible

Public School Searches

Public school children engaged in extracurricular activities can be randomly drug tested warrantless searches of public school children's effects such as purses / backpacks is permissible to investigate violates of school rules School search will be deemed reasonable only if: 1. it offers a moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing 2. the measures adopted to carry out the search are reasonably related the the objectives of the search; and 3. the search is not excessively intrusive

Plain View

To constitute a valid plain view seizure the police must be legitimately present at the location where he does the viewing of the item seized - must be immediately apparent that the item is contraband or fruit of a crime

Shocking Inducement

if a crime is induced by official actions that shock the conscience any conviction stemming therefrom is unconstitutional

Emergency Aid / Community Caretaker Exception

justifies warrantless search if an officer faces an emergency that threatens the health of safety of an individual or the public

Opening International Mail

permissible border searches include the opening of international mail when there is reasonable cause to believe that the mail contains contraband