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Constitutional Protections in Criminal Investigations

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Running Head: CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

Constitutional Protections in Criminal Investigations

What are constitutional rights and why are they so important to us? Our Constitutional rights are in place to protect us from wrongful conviction and improper police behavior. Originally these rights were made in reaction to the abusive conduct displayed by British authorities during Colonial times. Without the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we would not be a democracy, but instead we would become a communist country. The Constitution is pretty much our basis of freedom, because boundaries are set and it gives the government guidelines to which ones they can interfere with without violating them. Most …show more content…

United States, narcotic agents unlawfully entered Toy’s laundry and Toy indicated that Yee was selling narcotics. The agents found Yee along with drugs and he made a deal to give up the supplier Wong Sun. The agents were able to arrest Wong Sun and he voluntarily returned to the police station to make a statement. At Yee’s trial it was found that the drugs were excluded as part of the fruit of the poisonous tree because the search was done without a warrant. Wong Sun’s lawyer argued that his confession should be excluded as well, but an exception was found because he voluntarily returned to the station to make a statement (Kessler, 2010).
The Fifth Amendment as it pertains to confessions, states that “no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against themselves. The Fifth Amendment was created to protect individuals against self-incrimination, and any confession obtained when it is in violation of the Amendment will be inadmissible in court. The case Miranda v. Arizona involves Ernesto Miranda who was arrested based on evidence linking him to a kidnapping and rape. Miranda signed a confession to the rape, but he was never told his right to counsel, his right to remain silent, and that his statements would be used against him during the interrogation before being presented the confession form. His lawyer argued that the

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