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Winning, until proven guilty …. Rights of the Accused. Searches and Seizures . The Fourth Amendment protects from unreasonable searches and seizures Searches must be conducted with a court warrant – probable cause Exclusionary rule restricts the use of illegally obtained evidence.
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Winning, until proven guilty … Rights of the Accused
Searches and Seizures • The Fourth Amendment protects from unreasonable searches and seizures • Searches must be conducted with a court warrant – probable cause • Exclusionary rule restricts the use of illegally obtained evidence.
Searches and Seizures • Good Faith Exception (Leon): Police have reason to believe their actions were legal • Plain view doctrine: • the officer to be lawfully present at the place where the evidence can be plainly viewed • the officer to have a lawful right of access to the object • the incriminating character of the object to be “immediately apparent. • Supreme Court rulings limited the warrant requirement for legally stopped cars and for students and their property in school. • Recent rulings clarified “knock and announce” rule and duel occupancy searches
Self-incrimination • The Fifth Amendment protects: • witnesses before grand juries and congressional committees. • defendants against forced confessions. • The Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966) decisions expanded the protections of persons arrested as suspects in a criminal case. • Public Safety Exception (Quarles): existence of exigent circumstances that require protection of public safety
Guarantee of Counsel • The Sixth Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to an attorney. • In federal cases, courts generally provide an attorney for defendants who cannot afford one. • 14th Amendment requires state courts also provide attorneys for defendants.
Double Jeopardy • The Fifth Amendment protects accused persons from double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same crime • person may be tried more than once for the same act when a crime violates both a federal and a state law. • It is not double jeopardy if a single act involves more than one crime • defendant may be tried for each offense • In the case of a hung jury, a second trial is not double jeopardy.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment • The Eighth Amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishment. • Capital Punishment most often challenged under 8th amendment • Briefly banned in 1970s, later affirmed as constitutional • Administration of the death penalty is an ongoing controversy under this amendment • lethal injection, minors, mentally ill