Which of the following most accurately describes a police initiated action that relies
solely on the race, ethnicity, or national origin of a person and not his or her behavior?
a. pretextual stop
b. racial profiling
c. bias-based traffic control
d. authoritative pretext
Title III of the Wiretap Act applies to the use of electronic devices emitting signals that
enable law enforcement officials to track the location of objects and persons.
a. True
b. False
During an inventory, an officer picks up a jacket from the seat of the vehicle.
Underneath the jacket was a clear baggie containing drugs. The doctrine which allows
the officer to seize the drug evidence is the plain view doctrine.
a. True
b. False
Miranda warnings are required to be given anytime a person is in custody.
a. True
b. False
The purpose of the grand jury is to reach a verdict in a criminal case.
a. True
b. False
An inmate is housed in a state prison for the crime of murder. He has exhausted all of
his appeals and state remedies. The primary assertion that the inmate wants to advance
to a court is his claim of innocence, but he has no violation of the U.S. Constitution to
claim. Which statement about the inmate’s likelihood of success in filing a habeas
corpus claim is most accurate?
a. The inmate can succeed in a habeas corpus claim if a state law has been violated.
b. The inmate cannot succeed in a habeas corpus claim unless a state law has been
violated.
c. The inmate cannot succeed in filing a habeas corpus claim.
d. The inmate cannot succeed in a habeas corpus claim because no search and seizure
law has been violated.
Competency to stand trial can be raised at any point in the criminal process, even after a
conviction.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following is not generally impacted by an illegal arrest?
a. direct evidence
b. a confession
c. jurisdiction to try a person for a crime
d. physical/real evidence
A person is “picked up for questioning” by the police and taken to the police station
interrogation room where (s)he is given Miranda warnings and questioned. (S)he was
never told “You”re under arrest”. Which of the following occurred?
a. a formal arrest.
b. a seizure tantamount to arrest.
c. a Terry stop.
d. an investigative stop.
Police detectives begin to interrogate a criminal suspect without having read the
Miranda warnings. During this initial questioning, the suspect makes an incriminating
statement. The detectives, after hearing the incriminating statement, make the suspect
aware of his Miranda rights. Questioning continues and the suspect repeats the
incriminating information. How are the courts most likely to view the statement?
a. The incriminating statement is inadmissible.
b. The incriminating statement is admissible, but any derivative evidence that can be
gathered from the information in the statement is inadmissible.
c. The incriminating statement is inadmissible, but any derivative evidence that can be
gathered from the information in the statement is admissible.
d. The incriminating statement is admissible, as is any derivative evidence that can be
gathered from the information in the statement.
The Compulsory Process Clause guarantees the defendant’s right to compel the
attendance of favorable witnesses at trial. To compel a person to appear by using a
summons, the person to be summoned must be within the _____.
a. United States, a U.S. territory, or in a nation with an existing treaty with the United
States
b. United States or a territory of the United States
c. United States
d. geographical area subject to a court’s subpoena power
What were all-purpose warrants referred to in early colonial America?
a. Criminal warrants
b. Star chamber warrants
c. Writs of assistance
d. Writs of mandamus
A lineup should be conducted _____.
a. as close to trial as practicable
b. as soon after arrest as practicable
c. as close to arraignment as practicable
d. as soon after indictment as practicable.
The Fourth Amendment clearly applies to searches and seizures conducted on the
campuses of public colleges and universities.
a. True
b. False
A suspect states, “I was in the car, but I didn’t know it was stolen.” How would this
statement be most accurately classed?
a. a confession
b. a perpetration
c. an admission
d. a deposition
Which of the following tactics, if used by police, would be least likely to render a
confession involuntary by the courts?
a. Continued interrogation of an injured, depressed, or medicated person in extreme
pain in a hospital setting.
b. Deprivation of food or sleep to a suspect.
c. Relay and continued questioning for an extended period of time.
d. A police officer tells a lie about evidence to the suspect during the interrogation.
Officers who are lawfully on premises in hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect may seize
items that they have handled, moved, and manipulated to make a determination that the
evidence is seizable.
a. True
b. False
When law enforcement officers intercept communications that relate to offenses other
than those specified in the interception order, the government may use the evidence of
these other crimes only if _____.
a. the evidence was observed in plain view
b. the evidence could have been discovered through an independent source
c. another application is made to a court “as soon as practicable” for a determination
that the interception complied with Title III requirements
d. the evidence is testimonial in nature
Officers arrested Wright for robbery and took him to the police station, but Wright
refused to discuss the robbery. The next day, officers, without a search warrant, went to
Wright’s residence where they falsely told Wright’s wife that he had admitted the crime
and had sent police for the ‘stuff.” The frightened and upset woman admitted the
officers to the apartment and led them to money taken in the robbery. How should the
Court hold” the money?
a. admissible because the wife voluntarily consented.
b. admissible because the wife is a witness.
c. inadmissible because the wife lacked authority to consent.
d. inadmissible because the wife’s consent is deemed involuntary.
When a defendant stands mute, a plea of _____ is entered on his or her behalf.
a. not guilty
b. guilty
c. nolo contendere
d. innocent
The most legally sound action for officers about to execute a search warrant for
narcotics in a dwelling is to _____.
a. break in without notice
b. enter through unlocked windows or doors then announce their presence
c. disregard knock and announce since the warrant is for narcotics
d. follow knock and announce requirements
Police are questioning a suspect about a crime. Miranda warnings are read to the
suspect and the suspect clearly indicates he wishes to remain silent. Which of the
following legal limitations are placed on the police?
a. They are, from this point forward, forever barred from asking questions of the
suspect related to the crime in question and other crimes.
b. They must immediately, scrupulously respect the decision and stop with questioning,
but may, after a significant amount of time passes and after re-reading the Miranda
warnings, question the suspect about other crimes.
c. They may ignore verbal requests to remain silent and are only constrained when the
request is in writing.
d. They must immediately contact an attorney for the criminal suspect.
Once a container has been found to a certainty (through legal means) to contain illicit
drugs, the contraband becomes like objects physically within the plain view of the
police, and the claim to privacy is lost.
a. True
b. False
Courts have created exceptions to the warrant requirement for motor vehicles due to a
vehicle’s _____.
a. mobility and requirement for periodic inspections
b. mobility and lesser expectation of privacy
c. due to a vehicle’s periodic inspections and lesser expectation of privacy
d. due to a vehicle’s windows and greater expectation of privacy
A law enforcement officer observes an individual walking in a residential neighborhood
at night with a crowbar and flashlight. The officer briefly detains the person to ask a
few questions to determine what the individual is doing. What is the officer’s action
classified as?
a. a formal arrest.
b. a stop.
c. an informal arrest.
d. a seizure tantamount to arrest.
The term _____ means strengthening or confirming the information supplied by the
informant with supporting information obtained by law enforcement officers.
a. attenuation
b. corroboration
c. discovery
d. verification
The U.S. Supreme Court has not adopted a specific definition for the “beyond a
reasonable doubt” standard.
a. True
b. False
Legal issues surrounding search and seizures typically fall under the ____ Amendment?
a. First
b. Fourth
c. Eight
d. Fifth
Which statement about the privacy and property rights of students while on school
grounds is true?
a. Students have no Fourth Amendment protection.
b. Students have no expectation of privacy while on school property.
c. Students have the full protection of the Fourth Amendment on school grounds.
d. Searches and seizures must be based on reasonable grounds.
The Fourth Amendment protections requiring police to have a warrant to enter to search
extend to _____ but not to _____ under the open fields doctrine.
a. homes; businesses
b. private areas of a business; public areas of a business
c. businesses; hospital rooms
d. houses; temporary living quarters
When a vehicle has been impounded, police _____.
a. have unlimited discretion in inventorying the vehicle
b. may inventory according to standard criteria established by their agency
c. may not inventory the vehicle unless there are valuables within it
d. may inventory the vehicle for evidence of a crime
A person may specifically authorize another individual to consent to a search of the
person’s property.
a. True
b. False
Under the plain view doctrine, an officer _____.
a. searches and seizes
b. seizes but does not search
c. invades privacy but does not search
d. does not invade privacy but searches
The ___________ is grounded on the proposition that once police officers are lawfully
in a position to observe an item first-hand, the owner’s privacy interest in that item is
lost.
Explain what limitations are involved regarding the use of mechanical or electronic
devices to obtain plain view by law enforcement officials.
Answer:Answers will vary.
In the __________ ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted the view in which
knowledge of the right to refuse consent constitutes one factor among others in the
overall determination of voluntary consent.
Identify and describe the lowest level of criminal court in your state’s system and
describe the types of cases the court typically handles.
Detail the exceptions to the exclusionary rule and provide an example of each.
Answer:Answers will vary.
If police state truthfully that they will obtain a warrant if consent is withheld, the
consent is considered _________.
Outline the stages of the criminal justice system, from arrest through arraignment, as
they would normally occur.
Answer:Answers will vary.
The person giving the authority to search is called the _______; the person acting for
the _______ is called his or her ________.
Due process is violated if a practice or rule “offends some principle of justice so rooted
in the traditions and conscience or our people as to be ranked as
_____________________.”
The courts have ruled that a(n) __________ may occur without any physical touching if
the officer makes a show of authority and the person to be detained submits to this
authority.
In __________ v. United States, the Supreme Court clearly stated that an officer’s
ulterior motives do not invalidate the officer’s conduct that is justifiable on the basis of
probable cause to believe that a violation of law has occurred.
Define what is meant by a special needs search. Provide a minimum of two examples.
Answer:Answers will vary.
Discuss the reasoning of the court in United States v. Barry, 2005 regarding the
warrantless search of a defendant’s vehicle bases on “plain smell.”
Answer:Answers will vary.
The __________ is a(n) exception to Miranda’s usual warning requirements, where the
need for answers to questions in situations posing a threat to society outweighs the need
to protect the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination.
Define what is meant by a “bailee” and when he/she may be able to give legal consent
for a search of property.
Answer:Answers will vary.
A(n) __________ is the routine practice of police departments of securing and
recording the contents of a lawfully impounded vehicle. This is done to protect the
vehicle owner’s property while it remains in custody, and to protect the police from
potential danger and from claims or disputes over lost or stolen property.
Generally speaking, ______________ is needed to support an anonymous tip and
provide reasonable suspicion to justify an investigatory stop.
Unless __________ circumstances exist, an inventory search of a vehicle must be
conducted at the time of impoundment, not before impoundment.