Criminal Justice: CRJU 2050 Criminal Procedures

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Criminal Procedure

Criminal procedure: Is the adjudication process of criminal law. It is the set of rules governing proceedings in criminal cases in which the governing body enforces.

In the criminal procedure course students will learn about the following topics:

• The court system, sources of rights, and fundamental principles
• Criminal justice process
• Probable cause and reasonable suspicion
• The Exclusionary Rule
• Stop and Frisk
• Arrests and Use of Force
• Search and Seizures- Fourth Amendment
• Motor vehicle stops, searches, and inventories
• Plain view, open fields, abandonment, and border searches
• Lineups and other pretrial identifications
• Confessions and admissions:
• Supreme court case: Miranda vs Arizona
• Basic constitutional rights of the accused during trial
• Sentencing, death penalty, and other punishments
• Legal liabilities of Law Enforcement officers
• Electronic surveillance and the War on Terror

Steps in the Criminal Justice Process:

Complaint/Investigation of Crime by the Police

Arrest of Individual whom committed the Crime

Booking

Initial appearance with Magistrate

Prosecution

Indictment

Arraignment

The Fourth Amendment plays a vital role within criminal justice system. The Fourth Amendment prevents unlawful search and seizures by law enforcement. Law enforcement in most cases cannot seize property or arrest an individual without probable cause or warrant.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 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 Fourth Amendment applies to a search only if a person has a "legitimate expectation of privacy" in the place or thing being searched.

Fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine: If evidence was found under an unlawful search that lead to the discovery of another piece of evidence which law enforcement would not have discovered without the original evidence. This evidence must be inadmissible.

Any search or seizure that violates an individual's constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment cannot be used as evidence in the court of law. This is known as the exclusionary rule.

Exceptions to the exclusionary rule:

Inevitable discovery: is the law that states evidence that was found using illegal means could still be admissible in court if the evidence would have been found eventually anyway using legal means.

Good Faith Exception: An officer had reasonable, good faith belief that they were acting according to legal authority such as a warrant that may turn out to be invalid later.

Independent source doctrine: Evidence initially obtained during an unlawful search or seizure may later be admissible if the evidence is later obtained through a constitutionally valid search or seizure.

Attenuation Doctrine: permits evidence improperly obtained to be admitted at trial if the connection between the evidence and the illegal means by which it was obtained is very remote or no direct link.

Exigent Circumstances: Emergency situations where there are reasonable expectations that entry was necessary to prevent harm to an individual, the officer, or prevent the destruction of evidence.

Plain view doctrine: When evidence is in plain sight of an officer

Incident to a lawful arrest: Searches directly related to a lawful arrest

Miranda v. Arizona (1966):

 The Supreme Court ruled that detained criminal suspects, prior to police questioning, must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination.

This informing of a persons right to remain silent and there right to an attorney is known as the Miranda rights:

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

This decision was based on the Fifth and Sixth Amendment of the  U.S. Constitution.

• Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 2015 

  consisting of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure, are powered by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, and created in partnership with The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction

• PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM 

  Open Textbook

• Do Exclusionary Rules Ensure a Fair Trial? 

  Open access book