the police think they smell marijuana coupled with the sounds of what they believe could be the destruction of evidence, is reason enough for them to gain forced entry into a home without a search warrant while claiming probable cause and exigent circumstances. Overturning a ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court in Kentucky v. King, No. 09–1272 (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the police had the right to
an encounter. Good, bad or indifferent there will always be these questions that will need to be answered; were the police legally justified in the way they approached and carried out their encounter with the suspect? And, were there any exigent circumstances involved during the encounter? The following answers these questions. 1. Did Officer Smith have reasonable suspicion to make the initial stop of this vehicle? In the scenario set
Detail the concept for admissibility of plain sight evidence and the legal requirements for the investigation to invoke a plain sight seizure. When there is plain sight evidence or other contraband made when the officer is in a place where he or she has the right to be admissible. When an officer is observing any criminal activity in public that is accessible, but not observing as a search. The legal requirements for plain is that an officer must have reasonable cause to believe that a particular
There is no doubt that cell phones, in this day and age, are a huge part of most American’s everyday life. Cell phones that hold an abundance of various personal information and keepsakes such as pictures, videos, messages, etc. With the extensive amount of information that these mobile devices hold, they may sometimes be helpful to reveal and trace criminal activity. The access to the evidence of criminal activity can be very valuable to police but this access generally requires a warrant. The clear
and the persons or things to be seized." ("Fourth Amendment") Despite these fundamental principles, the courts have been forced to recognize that there are times when a search or seizure is appropriate without a warrant. Because they are, by definition, an infringement upon the privacy of a citizen, official searches and seizures can take place only by government employee or agent of the government. When there is a violation of this rule, the courts have determined that any evidence gathered by
Introduction America has witnessed many events through history that influence our perception. Between the dramatic events of American Independence and the scares of the Cold War, we had vocal leaders aim to minimize the federal government’s power. The framers did so initially in the colonial era (Downes, 2012). Then, Ronald Reagan followed this concept through the Cold War (Love, 2009). Today, we live in a Post 9/11 world. This is a world that was so dramatically stricken by the terrorist attacks
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 officer should have only searched Riley’s device with a warrant because no critical circumstance provided the officer to do so (“Fourth Amendment”). Inspecting the device’s physical condition
exceptions to the basic tenets of the Fourth Amendment, commonly known as warrantless searches, may be conducted if circumstances are such that the interests of society outweigh the invasiveness of the action. • The Court has have recognized special situations in which warrants were not required, including: border searches; consent searches; container searches; exigent circumstances; searches incident to a lawful arrest; plain view; special needs; stop and frisk; and inventory searches. •
Only in exigent circumstances may a law enforcement officer conduct a search without a search warrant. The interpretation of the Fourth Amendment has been disputed throughout numerous cases such as Terry v. Ohio, 1968, Katz v. United States, 1967, New Jersey v. T.L.O.,
Reasonable suspicion results in the combination of specific facts that can be articulated to a court, each of which is by itself harmless. It depends on the “totality of the circumstances.” With the acknowledgement of the vehicle matching the suspected car, the traffic stop turned into a detention. During a detention, a pat-down is allowed if there is a suspected weapon involved. It is also known that a warrant is not needed