According to the 2008 Columbia Law Review article entitled “Judging Innocence”, the
leading cause of wrongful convictions was due to:
a. Jury nullification
b. Mistakes made by judges.
c. Public defenders being unprepared.
d. Erroneous identification by eyewitnesses.
A police officer is charged with a criminal offense. He is told by the Chief that if he
takes the Fifth Amendment during the investigation, he will be fired. He gives a
confession. The confession
a. is admissible if reliable.
b. is admissible because the officer waived his rights by confessing.
c. is admissible because police officers have no privilege.
d. is inadmissible.
The physician”patient privilege
a. did not exist at common law.
b. entered the common law in the 1700s.
c. is designed to protect the physician.
d. is recognized only if the physician collects a fee.
Consent to search a computer permits officers to look at computer files, but only
consistent with the scope of the________.
a. coercion
b. circumstances
c. consent
d. privacy
The U.S. Supreme Court made the federal exclusionary rule mandatory for state courts
in
a. Mapp v. Ohio.
b. Weeks v. U.S.
c. Miranda v. Arizona.
d. Settles v. Arkansas.
After a witness is subject to cross-examination, the party that called them originally
may ask further questions under ____________ examination.
a. recross
b. following
c. redirect
d. didactic
In cases where the voluntariness of a confession is challenged, courts will look at the
a. corpus delicti.
b. res gestae.
c. totality of the circumstances.
d. type of crime.
Miranda v. _________requirements were added to the law regardin interrogation.
a. Illinois.
b. Pennsylvania.
c. Montana.
d. Arizona.
Expert testimony based on handwriting analysis is generally ___________in both
federal and state courts under Federal Rules of Evidence 702 and similar state rules
a. inadmissible
b. excluded
c. subjective
d. admissible
The U.S. Supreme Court lowered the standards for search warrants to facilitate
government searches to enforce
a. fire, health, and housing codes.
b. laws against illegal immigration.
c. drug smuggling.
d. gun laws.
The Fourth Amendment only prohibits ____________ searches and seizures.
a. unreasonable
b. evidence-gathering
c. searches on less than a compelling necessity
d. warrantless
In courts that use the ______ Plus test, the admissibility question frequently turns on
how accurately and faithfully the testing laboratory followed accepted procedure.
a. Frye
b. Daubert
c. Williams
d. Conners
Whether consent is voluntary is a question of fact to be determined by the
_____________________.
a. mental state at the time
b. time of day or night
c. totality of the circumstances
d. credibility of the person in control of the property
The general rule is that hearsay is
a. not admissible.
b. admissible.
c. not admissible unless the opponent objects.
d. admissible if the opponent objects.
Law enforcement officers may stay in acrime scene for a ______period of time to
perform whatever tasks they are obligated to do.
a. allowed
b. minimal
c. reasonable
d. objective
In 1999, in the Kumho Tire Co. decision, the Supreme Court extended the Daubert test
to
a. hearsay.
b. ancient documents.
c. technical evidence.
d. DNA evidence.
The purpose of a frisk is to find
a. evidence of crime.
b. identification information.
c. weapons
d. contraband.
These tests, called_______fingerprinting, can sometimes lead to a match between the
bullet fragments and the weapon used to fire the bullet.
a. blood.
b. hair.
c. skin.
d. ballistic
A warrant authorizing covert entry into a location to take photographs, plant listening
devices, etc. (but not to seize evidence) is called a _____________ warrant.
a. general
b. anticipatory
c. exculpatory
d. sneak-and-peak entry
The party seeking to have a writing or document admitted must show that it is genuine
or _____________.
a. complicit
b. exculpatory
c. authentic
d. replicable
The National Council of Judges recommends that a lineup include a total of at least
________ similar-appearing persons.
a. four
b. five
c. six
d. seven
In general, only ____________ witnesses may testify as to their opinions or
conclusions.
a. ordinary
b. expert
c. prosecution
d. defense
In Holland v. U.S. (1954), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an income tax evasion
conviction on the basis of circumstantial evidence in the form of
a. eyewitness testimony.
b. impression of neighbors about the defendant’s income.
c. the net worth method.
d. written confessions.
In the case of government employees, courts generally hold that the employee has no
legitimate expectation of privacy in a __________used in that employment.
a. computer
b. purse
c. locked file cabinet
d. briefcase
Which of the following is not required under Miranda before confessions are
admissible?
a. Proper warnings must be given.
b. The suspect must understand the warnings.
c. A voluntary waiver must be obtained.
d. An attorney must be present during warnings and waiver.
The Self-Incrimination Clause has only one, specific goal: to protect against compelled,
self-incriminating statements. This falls under the ___________ Amendment.
a. Fourteenth
b. Second
c. Fourth
d. Fifth
To fall within the hearsay rule, the declarant’s statement must be a/n ____________
statement.
a. oral
b. written
c. interrogatory
d. assertive
According to a 2008 Nebraska Law Review article, more than ___ percent of
eyewitness testimony is mistaken identification.
a. 40
b. 10
c. 30
d. 50
If police fear violence or destruction of evidence when executing a search warrant, they
can request a ____________ warrant.
a. general
b. anticipatory
c. no-knock
d. participatory
Adult witnesses are
a. presumed incompetent unless shown to be competent.
b. presumed competent unless shown to be incompetent.
c. always subjected to voir dire before being allowed to testify.
d. presumed competent if they are at least 21 years of age.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s Daubert decision, federal courts used a _____________
test.
a. general acceptance
b. conditional relevance
c. contingent admissibility
d. consistency and reliability
If the police can show that the evidence was discovered by two methods, one of which
was lawful, it may trigger the ____________ exception to the exclusionary rule.
a. exigent circumstances
b. inevitable discovery
c. independent source
d. attenuation of the taint.
The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine is also known as the ____________ rule.
a. attenuation of the taint
b. inevitable discovery
c. derivative evidence
d. independent source
If a person abandons property, they
a. have no Fourth Amendment rights with regard to that property.
b. have no Fourth Amendment rights if they attempt to claim the property after the
police have seized it.
c. have a right to sue police who seize the property.
d. can sue police if police damage the property.
The oldest confidential communication privilege known to the common law was the
____________ privilege.
a. attorney”client
b. priest”penitent
c. doctor”patient
d. reporter’source
A written document cannot be hearsay evidence.
Discuss the law on the admissibility of gruesome photographs of the bodies of murder
victims at the murder trial. Be sure to provide examples
Rape shield statutes can prevent the introduction of circumstantial evidence about the
victim.
Discuss the various types of profiling as an investigative tool and provide examples of
forbidden profiling.
The police cannot rely on an abandonment argument if illegal police activity caused the
abandonment.
Under what circumstances may a confession be deemed unconstitutional? Discuss each.
A showup is often necessary, but not in emergency situations, such as a dying victim.
Where police misconduct violates an individual right protected by the U.S.
Constitution, the applicability of an exclusionary rule (and a court’s ability to change
the rule) can depend on the constitutional right violated. Do you feel that evidence that
would be omitted due to such a violation be excluded even if the evidence would show
clear guilt or innocence? Why or why not?
The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine does not apply to physical evidence.
After Crawford v. Washington, the hearsay exceptions and exceptions to the
Confrontation Clause are identical with regard to testimonial evidence.
Using a single photograph to obtain identification always violates due process.
Juveniles charged with crimes are not entitled to Miranda warnings.
The prosecution can overcome the presumption of innocence only by proving guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.
In addition to having indicia of reliability, the dying declarations exception to the
hearsay rule has also been justified on the basis of public necessity.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that trial judges must give juries a definition of proof
beyond a reasonable doubt.
Fourth Amendment protections are weaker when the government is protecting its
_____________ needs than when it is investigating crime.
In the Daubert case, the Supreme Court held that the admissibility of scientific
evidence was governed by Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, not the Frye
decision.
The automobile exception has a ________ right of privacy from homes.
To qualify for the hearsay exception for ancient documents, the document must be over
_______ years old.
In ____________ v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court made the federal exclusionary rule
binding on the states.