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
In Kyllo. v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court held that using a thermal imaging device to
detect temperature differentials in a home _____.
a. was a Fourth Amendment search
b. could be conducted only upon reasonable suspicion
c. was a Fourth Amendment seizure
d. was not covered by the Fourth Amendment
The federal exclusionary rule _____.
a. applies only in civil cases
b. applies only in criminal cases
c. applies in criminal cases and for civil penalties
d. applies in civil and criminal cases
Prior to the 1600s, English courts strictly enforced the rule against hearsay evidence in
criminal cases.
a. True
b. False
Habeas corpuswas established under the Magna Carta.
a. True
b. False
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 and gun smuggling laws
d. laws protecting children and dependent adults
A defendant who pleads no contest is subject to the same range of punishments as one
who pleads guilty.
a. True
b. False
The U.S. Supreme Court has specifically upheld the use of vehicle checkpoints to
enforce immigration laws.
a. True
b. False
The Federal Rules of Evidence must be followed in all state trials.
a. True
b. False
There is a “murder scene exception” to the warrant requirement.
a. True
b. False
If the prosecution deliberately uses false evidence or perjured testimony to obtain a
conviction, the defendant will get a new trial.
a. True
b. False
In the United States, defendants are never required to reveal anything about their case to
the prosecution.
a. True
b. False
Through operation of the _____ Amendment, many provisions of the Bill of Rights now
also limit the power of the states.
a. Tenth
b. Thirteenth
c. Fourteenth
d. Fifteenth
All jurisdictions in the U.S. utilize the Federal Rules of Evidence.
a. True
b. False
Case 9.3
Police investigate an arson of a commercial structure. The day after the fire is
extinguished, police investigators return to the property and retrieve evidence from the
burned building. Police contact the security company that monitored the crime scene
and obtained alarm system records that demonstrate that the system was shut down via
the internal key pad just prior to the fire. Police also obtain surveillance videos from
other commercial businesses adjacent to the crime scene. Through their investigation
the owner of the building is identified as a prime suspect.
Police ask the building owner to come down to headquarters to follow up on any
potential suspects he may have. Once at police headquarters, the building owner is
interviewed by detectives regarding the fire. What was a friendly discussion suddenly
turns adversarial with the detectives accusing him of starting the fire to collect
insurance. They both tell him to think about what he wants to say about the crime and
leave him alone in a locked interview room. While in the interview room the building
owner texts an accomplice to check if he properly disposed of incriminating evidence.
The investigators come in and inform the defendant that no cell phones are allowed in
the interview room. They take the cell phone out of the room and view the texts on the
phone. The building owner ultimately confesses to the arson and is charged. Subsequent
to the confession police obtain a search warrant for the cell phone texts and records.
The Miranda rule does not provide safeguards before confessions or other incriminating
statements have been obtained
a. True
b. False
Bite marks are most often used as evidence _____ cases.
a. homicide
b. assault
c. kidnapping
d. robbery
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
The corpus delicti may be validly proven solely by circumstantial evidence.
a. True
b. False
The U.S. Supreme Court made the exclusionary rule binding on the states in _____.
a. 1902
b. 1914
c. 1961
d. 2000
In general, suspects do not have a right to privacy for their conversations that take place
in police cars or jails.
a. True
b. False
One of the purposes of some of the rules of evidence is to assist in finding the truth.
a. True
b. False
Case 4.3
Police respond to the scene of an apparent arson incident which involved a vacant
commercial office building. The fire was discovered by a passing patrol unit shortly
after it had started. The initial officers on scene found all exterior doors looked and
entry was forced to check for potential victims. Fire officials report signs and evidence
of accelerants near each stairwell. Additionally they find an empty kerosene can outside
the structure in the bushes by the property line. A premises history reveals that the
property has been vacant for almost a year and has been for sale twice as long. Town
records show several denied zoning and building adjustment applications over the past
two years. There are numerous property maintenance violations for the property as well.
Detectives following up on the case find property owner Slim Shady uncooperative. He
claims he knows nothing about the fire and that he was at home the entire night.
Background investigations reveal that Mr. Shady also operates Shady Paint and
Flooring Service. He owns a working van with the markings “Shady Paint and
Flooring.” Detectives also discover that Mr. Shady increased his insurance of the
incident property six months prior to the fire.
As there are no eyewitnesses to the crime, detectives focus on identifying means,
motive, and opportunity. If the case goes to trial, what must be shown for it to go to the
determination of guilt?
a. means only
b. motive only
c. opportunity only
d. both motive and opportunity
The corpus delicti rule requires that circumstantial evidence be corroborated by direct
evidence.
a. True
b. False
The attorney”client privilege does not apply when the client informs the attorney of
_____.
a. past crimes
b. planned crimes
c. incriminating information
d. crimes against the state
Of the two main DNA tests, the RFLP test, has gained wider acceptance in the courts.
a. True
b. False
Case 9.1
Police stop Bill Stoner, a known drug dealer, for operating a vehicle with no tail lights,
after he is observed pulling away from a parking lot in a high crime area know for drug
transactions. Bill appears extremely nervous as he speaks with the officers. The primary
officer requests the registration and insurance card for the vehicle. As Sam opens the
glove box to retrieve the paperwork, the cover officer spots a hollow point bullets in the
glove box. She notifies her partner and Sam is immediately removed from the car and
frisked for possible weapons. The officer finds a loaded handgun in Bill’s waist band
and he placed under arrest. As the cover officer is securing the bullets, she notices Bill’s
cell phone on the front seat buzzing. She opens the phone and views multiple texts from
Donny Bosco warning Bill that “The cops are in the area get my bag of weed and coke
out of your trunk.” The officers secure Bill in the patrol car and search the trunk of
Bill’s car. In the trunk they find a large black duffle bag containing two pounds of
marijuana and two kilograms of cocaine.
Bill is transported back to headquarters and placed in an interrogation room. The
arresting officer shows the duffle bag full of drugs to Bill and tells him “you’re going
away for a long time unless you talk”. Bill is questioned about his association with
Donny Bosco and his part in the distribution of drugs. Bill completes and signs a
Miranda waiver form and then provides a videotaped confession in which he criminally
implicates Donny Bosco as the drug distribution leader. In addition to the charges
against Bill Stoner, Donny Bosco is indicted on several felony drug tracking charges.
On what grounds could the defense seek to exclude Bill’s videotaped confession?
a. Miranda
b. affirmative defense
c. writ of habeas corpus
d. inevitable discovery
People have less Fourth Amendment protection at the international border than in the
interior of the U.S.
a. True
b. False
The burden of _____ requires the party with the burden to introduce sufficient relevant
evidence to convince the fact finder that a fact exists.
a. evidence
b. deductions
c. persuasion
d. production
Direct evidence is evidence that proves a fact in issue by the use of inferences.
a. True
b. False
Evidence that the defendant was seen running from the scene of the crime shortly after
the crime occurred could be circumstantial evidence of guilt.
a. True
b. False
Describe ballistic fingerprinting and its limitations.
Discuss the automobile exception and how if differs from entering a residence in terms
of probable cause.
Describe the plain view and public view doctrines in relation to the police and
documents.
What are the requirements of the physician”patient privilege? What are some of the
exceptions created in some jurisdictions?
The _____ plea typically requires evidence of disease or defect.
If the purpose of a nonverbal act is to communicate, and the communication is _____,
then it falls within the hearsay rule.
In re Jerrell, C.J., the Wisconsin Supreme Court exercised its supervisory power to
require that all interrogations of juveniles must be _____________.
A number of federal courts of appeal and district courts have concluded there is a
qualified journalist privilege under the _____ Amendment in civil cases, but most have
concluded that there is no privilege in criminal cases.
Judicial _____________ is an exception to the traditional methods of presenting
evidence.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, a Terry stop requires ____________________.
The ____ Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
In Maryland v. Buie, the Supreme Court recognized a(n) ____________________
exception to the warrant requirement.
Adoption of the Daubert test in state and federal courts has caused some courts to
question the reliability of the horizontal ____________________ nystagmus for
detection of intoxication.
How are x-ray filmsradiographs, roentgenograms, and skiagrams different from
ordinary photographs?:
Luggage or a package may be ____________________to obtain a search warrant where
probable cause exists to believe that the package or luggage contains evidence of a
crime
Discuss how bite marks may be useful as evidence.
To have standing and challenge the manner in which police obtained evidence from a
crime scene, a ____________________ must show that he or she had a legitimate
expectation of privacy in the crime scene.
Many businesses, apartment buildings, schools and public places have _________
cameras, which can be used as sources of obtaining identification evidence.
In the Federal Rules of Evidence, one form of statement that is specifically excluded
from the definition of hearsay is the prior statement of the ______________ currently
on the witness stand.