Day 3: Beyond Probable Cause — The Science of Suspicion
In Terry v. Ohio, the Supreme Court recognized that the police need a flexible tool for street encounters that don't quite reach Probable Cause.
1. The Stop: A brief investigatory seizure. Requires Reasonable Suspicion that criminal activity is afoot.
2. The Frisk: A pat-down of outer clothing. Requires separate Reasonable Suspicion that the suspect is armed and dangerous. This is for officer safety, not evidence gathering.
During a Terry frisk, if an officer feels an object whose incriminating nature is immediately apparent (without manipulation), they may seize it. If they have to squeeze or slide it to figure out it's drugs, the seizure is unconstitutional.
Move the slider to see the legal standard required for different police actions.
No legal justification. Police may not seize or search.
Sometimes, the "special needs" of the government outweigh the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement. These are non-investigative in nature.
Administrators only need Reasonable Suspicion to search students. Warrants are not required for maintaining discipline (T.L.O.).
Sobriety and Border checkpoints are legal because they are standardized and serve a safety/sovereignty goal (Sitz).
A judicial remedy that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial.
"If the tree is tainted, the fruit is usually suppressed."
The Bar Exam loves these. These are the ways "tainted" evidence gets back into court.
The evidence was found through a completely separate, legal source.
The police would have found the evidence anyway through lawful means (e.g., a grid search already in progress).
The link between the illegal act and the evidence is so weak (time, intervening events) that the "taint" is purged.
If police rely on a warrant that is later found invalid, the evidence is NOT suppressed as long as their reliance was objectively reasonable.
A police officer pulls over a car for a broken taillight. He has no reason to believe the driver is armed. Can he conduct a pat-down of the driver?