Who can serve a search warrant? - CORRECT ANSWERS-ONLY law
enforcement officers. (Police Officers)
Rule of Thumb: - CORRECT ANSWERS-You CANNOT "Verbally Swear" out a
search warrant, must be WRITTEN probable cause.
Police Power to Search and Seize comes from: - CORRECT ANSWERS-1.) U.S.
Constitution the 4th Amendment
2.) Pennsylvania Constitution: Article 1 Section 8
3.) "Case Law", U.S. and PA Court Decisions
4.) "Statutory Law"-PA rules of Criminal Procedure
General Rule: - CORRECT ANSWERS-ALWAYS GET A SEARCH WARRANT
Probable Cause - CORRECT ANSWERS-Facts+Circumstances that would lead
a reasonable person to believe that a crime is committed
Warrant Clause - CORRECT ANSWERS-Warrants must be:
-Based on Probable Cause
-Supported by Oath or Affirmation
-Describe place to be searched, and
-Describe person or item(s) to be seized
-Probable Cause is the minimum legal proof necessary to justify the seizure
of a person
search incident to a lawful arrest - CORRECT ANSWERS-A valid custodial
arrest authorizes a complete search of the arrested person and the area
within his IMMEDIATE CONTROL
Example of Vehicle search: - CORRECT ANSWERS-Person hops out of car with
purse on their body you CANNOT search it, if they leave the purse in the car
then you can search it. Same thing with a duffle bag in a house.
Staleness (stale information): - CORRECT ANSWERS-Probable cause must be
found to exist at the time the search warrant is issued, a warrant cannot be
, issued upon stale information. Old information is not stale if it can be shown
that criminal activity continued up to the and about the time that the warrant
was issued or if activity was of a protracted/continuous nature.
*48 hours that your info is considered fresh, after that it is stale*
You can use old information on search warrant as long as there is fresh
information with it.
Drugs=Stale First
Gun=Stale in the Middle
Vehicle=Stale last (hard to dispose of)
Arizona v. Gant - CORRECT ANSWERS-The Supreme Court decided that a
vehicular search incident to arrest is reasonable IF it is reasonable to believe
that the vehicle contains evidence or the arrestee might access the vehicle
at the time of the search. (if they are walking away from the car and not in
its vicinity, you cant search it)
Commonwealth v Gary - CORRECT ANSWERS-Observed Gary driving tinted
windows and then smelled marijuana. The officers removed Gary and put
him in the car. Gary ran, officers tackled him and then searched his car. They
found 2 pounds of Marijuana
The smelling of Marijuana established probable cause to search the vehicle.
What legal document is used to suppress evidence? - CORRECT ANSWERS-
Exclusionary Rule
You pat someone down and feel a ball of crack... - CORRECT ANSWERS-
Inevitable discovery but has to be immediately apparent.
Terry v. Ohio - CORRECT ANSWERS-Police can search and seize if they have
probable cause
=Stop and Frisk
4th Amendment differences between PA and Supreme Court? - CORRECT
ANSWERS-Pennsylvania does not recognize GOOD FAITH.
Existence of probable cause must be determined by viewing the totality of
the circumstances presented in a non-techincal commonsense fashion.
Courts must view the facts from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable
police officer.
*Best practice-define all Jargon or technical terms within the search warrant
and affidavit*
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