When the police obtain a handwriting or voice sample from a criminal suspect, this
action constitutes a seizure, thereby implicating the Fourth Amendment.
a. True
b. False
To establish that consent was valid, the prosecutor must show
a. only that the consenter had authority.
b. that the consenter had authority and gave consent voluntarily.
c. that the consenter had authority, gave consent voluntarily, and was informed by
police of his right to refuse consent.
d. that probable cause existed regardless of the consent.
To challenge the admissibility of evidence, a defendant must ______.
a. have legal representation because only lawyers can make challenges
b. have exhausted all appeals because challenges can only be made in appeals
c. have standing, which refers to the ability to raise a legal claim
d. get permission from the prosecution which must be in writing
If an officer has probable cause to search a container after the container has been
removed from a vehicle, then the Carroll doctrine _____.
a. applies
b. does not apply unless the container is in the process of being returned to the vehicle
c. does not apply
d. does not apply unless the vehicle is readily mobile
Which of the following is not considered curtilage?
a. a house being sold by a realtor
b. a house in which the occupants are away on a trip around the world
c. a house under construction which has only the skeletal framing
d. a house which has been somewhat damaged by fire but is boarded up pending repair
The Daubert case suggested several factors (that are neither exhaustive nor applicable
to every case) that might be used in evaluating whether a particular scientific theory,
study, or test is both valid and reliable. Which is not one of the factors identified by the
case?
a. It is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community.
b. It has a known or potential rate of error that is acceptably low.
c. It involves a person employed by a college or university.
d. It is empirically testable and capable of replication.
Once an administrative search focuses on gathering evidence for a criminal prosecution,
a criminal search warrant must be obtained or the search must satisfy an exception to
the warrant requirement.
a. True
b. False
Interrogation means _____.
a. police questioning
b. that a person is in custody and questioned about anything
c. even volunteered statements to police
d. any words or actions by police that they should know are reasonably likely to elicit
an incriminating response from the suspect
As the delay between the development of reasonable suspicion on the part of the officer
and the actual stop grows longer, courts may find that the suspicion has “evaporated.”
a. True
b. False
Officers knock on a door of an apartment being rented by a male suspect. A female
opens the door and the officers ask her if the suspect is home. She says “Not right now,”
but the officers don”t believe her and want permission to enter and look for themselves.
They have no warrant or other justification. What should the officer’s do first?
a. ask her if she will consent to their search.
b. ask her if she lives there.
c. ask her to step out of the apartment, since there might be trouble.
d. ask her when he will return, since she can”t give permission.
The requirements of the plain view doctrine do not include that the _____.
a. officer, as a result of a prior valid intrusion, must be in a position in which he or she
has a legal right to be
b. officer must not unreasonably intrude on any person’s reasonable expectation of
privacy
c. officer may develop probable cause to believe that the item is subject to seizure by
handling and thoroughly examining the item
d. discovery of the item of evidence by the officer need not be inadvertent
A person voluntarily consenting to a search may later contest the search on
constitutional grounds, even though consent was given.
a. True
b. False
State prisoners are permitted to file for federal habeas corpus relief _____.
a. at any time after conviction is entered as a final judgment
b. only after exhausting all available state remedies
c. at any time after the start of the trial
d. only in situations that involve the Fourth Amendment
Assuming that no exception to the warrant requirement is relevant, weaker evidence is
more likely to justify the issuance of a warrant than it is to justify a warrantless search
or arrest.
a. True
b. False
Police interrogate a suspect who tells police where a stash of illegal drugs is hidden
which are then seized by the police. The drugs are best classified as _____.
a. primary evidence
b. derivative evidence
c. circumstantial evidence
d. fruit of the poisonous tree
What limitation is placed on a prosecutor’s discretion to file charges and to make a
determination about what offense to charge?
a. The prosecutor must have an established record of making the same decision in
substantively similar cases.
b. The prosecutor must have probable cause to believe the defendant committed the
charged offense.
c. The evidence relied on by the prosecution must not be based entirely upon
circumstantial evidence.
d. The prosecutor must have reasonable suspicion to believe the defendant committed
the charged offense.
Which statement about searches of student belongings by university officials and/or
police is true?
a. Police cannot legally gain access to a student’s living quarters for the purpose of
searching, even if they have permission of university administration, unless they have a
warrant issued.
b. The Fourth Amendment protects students at private universities and colleges from
searches conducted by school officials.
c. The Fourth Amendment does not protect students at public universities and colleges
from searches conducted by school officials.
d. Students at public and private universities have no expectation of privacy.
Select the true statement regarding the criteria used by courts to make determinations
about intent to abandon property.
a. The presence of one factor alone will not generally lead to a finding of abandonment.
b. An apartment and the contents of the apartment cannot be considered abandoned if
there is still time remaining on the lease.
c. With respect to abandonment of objects, courts can rely on the length of time the item
has been left unattended to determine whether the object has been abandoned.
d. A person’s garbage is always considered abandoned.
The police may, in some situations, delay a search incident to arrest.
a. True
b. False
Applying the rule of law of Kirby v. Illinois, in which of the below choices does the
suspect not have a right to have an attorney prior to or during the confrontation?
a. an on-scene showup immediately after a warrantless arrest
b. a lineup held immediately after initial appearance
c. a showup held immediately after preliminary hearing
d. a lineup held immediately after indictment
Which branch of the government plays the largest role in protection of individual
liberties?
a. Legislative
b. Executive
c. President
d. Judicial
A patrol officer is chasing a suspect fleeing from an armed robbery in which the suspect
fired a pistol. The suspect flees into his own home, where the officer enters and arrests
the suspect. An immediate search of the suspect reveals an empty shoulder holster.
Without advice of rights, the officer asks the suspect the whereabouts of the gun. The
suspect states that he threw it into the trash bin as he ran through the house. The weapon
is found. The _____ exception would probably form the most effective legal argument
to make the gun admissible at trial.
a. derivative evidence
b. good faith
c. inevitable discovery
d. attenuation
If an officer has entered open fields to search, he or she _____
a. must base all seizures on probable cause that the items are seizable
b. may seize only items in plain view
c. must obtain a warrant before seizing any item they find
d. must have exigency to seize any item they find
The fundamental case that established the basic rationale of the plain view doctrine is
_____.
a. Harris v. United States
b. Texas v. Brown
c. Arizona v. Hicks
d. Horton v. California
Police investigating a shooting lawfully entered the suspect’s apartment to search for the
shooter, for other victims and for weapons. One officer noticed stereo components and,
suspecting they were stolen, moved the equipment to read and record serial numbers.
The officer’s actions are _____.
a. lawful under plain view because there was no search
b. lawful under plain view because there was no search or seizure
c. unlawful under plain view because there was a search
d. unlawful under plain view because there was a seizure
How do courts define “open fields”
a. any area inside the curtilage
b. any area outside the curtilage
c. the area immediately around a dwelling
d. the area outside the curtilage if not posted
According to the plain view doctrine, an officer must be able to tell by just looking at an
item which is out in the open that the item is seizable.
a. True
b. False
Briefly describe what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is and does.
Answer:Answers will vary.
Select the true statement about evidence used in criminal trials.
a. Hearsay is firsthand evidence or evidence that has some sort of tangible support.
b. Most witnesses are permitted to give their opinions above and beyond those that are
rationally based on their own common perceptions.
c. Even relevant evidence may be inadmissible if its use could prejudice, confuse, or
mislead the jury.
d. Evidence may be relevant and admissible even if it does not tend to prove or disprove
any material fact in dispute.
Officers driving behind a car observe the driver weaving across the double yellow line
and apparently drinking from a can of beer. The officers are about to stop the driver
when he turns into his driveway and parks the car in his garage. Given this scenario, the
officers _____.
a. are too late to take any action
b. are too late to make a Carroll search but may arrest the driver
c. need a warrant or consent to search the vehicle
d. may make a Carroll search of the vehicle and arrest the driver
A suspect has been formally charged with a crime (either through prosecutor
information or grand jury indictment). The suspect has been assigned defense counsel.
While in police custody, the suspect contacts police detectives requesting a meeting to
discuss the charges and evidence. The police:
a. can meet the suspect for interrogation, but not deliberately elicit evidence, without
notifying the suspect’s defense attorney
b. can meet the suspect for deliberate elicitation of evidence, but not interrogation,
without notifying the suspect’s defense attorney
c. must contact the suspect’s attorney
d. can meet with the suspect, without the attorney present, if the judge gives permission
A search ordinarily must be based on individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. but
particularized exceptions to the main rule are sometimes warranted based and are most
associated with _____.
a. administrative searches
b. Ortega searches
c. aural transfers
d. the special needs doctrine
Compare and contrast an interception order under Title III of the Wiretap Act and an
ordinary search warrant.
Answer:Answers will vary.
Explain the importance of subpoenas and compulsory process to a criminal trial.
Answer:Answer will vary.
Briefly describe the landmark case of Hester v. United States, 1924, concerning the
concepts of open fields and abandoned property.
Answer:Answers will vary.
The primary duty of the ______________ is to receive complaints in criminal cases,
hear the evidence put forth by the state, and return an indictment when a majority of the
grand jury is satisfied that there is probable cause that the defendant has committed an
offense.
How does the Court define “use of excessive force” by the police?
Answer:Answers will vary.
Draw a schematic diagram comparing the federal court system to your state’s system.
Describe the differences in the diagram of your state system against the text’s diagram
of the federal court system.
Describe searches regarding the plain view doctrine of police vehicle inventory
searches in the case of South Dakota v. Opperman, 1976.
Answer:Answers will vary.
Generally speaking, a search is said to be __________ with an arrest if the search is at
the same time that probable cause to arrest develops or is conducted shortly thereafter.
Explain why the presence of counsel is required at a pretrial confrontation with
witnesses conducted after the initiation of adversary judicial proceedings.
Answer:Answers will vary.
Certain types of delay are not counted toward the time periods specified in the Speedy
Trial Act. These delays that are not counted are called __________.
Briefly describe how the Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Acts
of 1968 originated.
Answer:Answers will vary.
The warnings required by Miranda must be given before police question a person who
is in __________ or deprived of his or her freedom of action in any significant way.
Explain the concept of incomplete sensory acquisition.
Answer:Answers will vary.
Highlight the difference between venue and jurisdiction.
Answer:Answers will vary.
A(n) __________ process of an automobile is not considered a search for Fourth
Amendment purposes because its object is not to find incriminating evidence as part of
a criminal investigation.
The line between an administrative and a criminal search sometimes blurs. In
distinguishing between them, it is important to look at the search’s __________ and
competing __________.