Criminal Courts A Contemporary Perspective 4th Edition Craig T. Hemmens, David C. Brody, Cassia Spohn - Solutions

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How does the “plain view” doctrine apply to computer searches? If law enforcement officers have a valid warrant to search a computer for evidence of a specific crime, when, if ever, do other computer files come under their “plain view”? See United States v. Stabile, 633 F.3d 219 (3rd Cir.
Police officers conducted an investigation of a murder, and believed the defendant was involved in the murder. The defendant came to the police station for questioning, but early on said he needed to talk to his attorney. Officers continued to question him, and he subsequently said he hid the knife
As we noted in this chapter, many states have exclusionary rules more rigorous than the federal rule. How does the Hawaii state rule differ from the federal rule in the following situation:Police arrested defendant on an outstanding warrant, and after doing so made him empty his pockets,
F.B.I. officers in California learned that the defendant drove from New Mexico to California to meet a teenager with whom the defendant had had sexually explicit online conversations on the Internet. The agents also had evidence that the defendant and the teenager drove back to New Mexico together.
Assume police officers conducted an illegal search of defendant’s apartment. In the process they discovered the identity of two victims of sexual assaults by the defendant. The police interviewed the victims, and they agreed to testify against the defendant. At his trial, the defendant moved to
Not all state courts have been willing to follow the Supreme Court’s lead in the Herring decision.Some courts, like the Wisconsin Supreme Court, have reached different results by application of a state constitutional provision and exclusionary rule. In a situation similar to the facts in Herring
Amtrak police officers believed the defendant fit the drug courier profile, in part because he purchased a train ticket for cash the day before his trip. When the defendant arrived at the train station, the defendant and a briefcase he was carrying were “detained” by the officers, who called
Texas police obtained a proper search warrant to search defendant’s house to look for evidence of check forgery, including equipment purchased with forged checks. The warrant identified various purchased property to look for, including a safe, but did not include the safe in the list of property
Police suspected the defendant was operating a house of prostitution. After investigation, the police developed enough evidence for the probable cause needed to obtain a search warrant.While officers were obtaining the search warrant, other officers went to the location and“detained” the house.
If the state charges a defendant with driving under a suspended driver’s license, the prosecution must prove as an element of the offense that the defendant’s license has been suspended or revoked. Can it do so by introducing an affidavit prepared by the director of the state motor vehicle
Can hearsay, testimonial or non-testimonial, be admitted at the sentencing phase of a trial? Does the Confrontation Clause apply to sentencing hearings? Should the police be allowed to testify at a hearing to determine if a convicted murderer should be given the death sentence that“other gang
The key to the admissibility of testimonial hearsay is the opportunity the defendant has to cross-examine the person who made the statement.If that occurs at the criminal trial, presumably the Confrontation Clause has been satisfied under Crawford. What if the person making the statement is not
Are fingerprint cards, prepared by a police officer when the defendant was booked at the station using an alias, hearsay when offered at a later criminal trial to prove the defendant was the person who used the alias? If so, are the fingerprint cards testimonial evidence under Crawford? United
The hearsay rule does not apply only to the prosecution’s case. Sometimes the rule can keep out evidence offered by the defendant, such as alibi evidence based on out-of-court statements.Where a defendant offers hearsay, there is no Confrontation Clause issue. However, the offered evidence must
Statements made by a victim during police interrogations after an “ongoing emergency”has terminated are testimonial and inadmissible if offered to prove the truth of facts in the statement. This is true even though the circumstances under which the statements are made otherwise qualified it as
A few months before her death, the defendant’s girlfriend called 911, and reported that the defendant had beaten her. The tape included statements that the victim was afraid of the defendant, but also detailed statements about the beating, its motive, and when it occurred.The defendant was
A defendant was charged with sexual assault of his minor daughters. His daughters and his wife testified at a preliminary hearing, where the defendant’s attorney cross-examined the daughters about the sexual assault allegations.The case was bound over for trial. Before trial on the sexual assault
The U.S. Supreme Court is responsible for making recommendations to Congress on changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence. In April 2014 the Court recommended that the“prior consistent statement” hearsay rule, Fed.R. Evid. 801 (d)(1)(B), be expanded to include more such statements when offered
When informants give police a tip about an investigation, police officers may be asked to testify about the nature and content of the tip at a subsequent criminal trial. If the testimony is given to show the “course of the investigation” it is not hearsay because it is not introduced to prove
A defendant is charged with illegal trespass on a neighbor’s property. Trespass is a crime that requires proof the defendant had no reasonable belief that he was permitted to be on the property.The defendant seeks to testify that a coowner of the property, who is not present and can’t testify,
An injured man is brought to an emergency room in an ambulance. The EMT transporting the man also brought various articles to the trauma room, including a backpack. An emergency room nurse inventoried the articles, including the backpack, where she discovered illegal drugs. Later, two women came to
As the text states, courts routinely hold that questions are not assertive statements. Thus, when police are searching a house believed to be used for drug transactions, an officer who answers a telephone at that house may testify at a subsequent prosecution of the house’s owner for sale of
So-called “double hearsay” involves situations like this: A testifies that B told her that C said the defendant stole her money. If that testimony is intended to prove the defendant stole C’s money, it is double hearsay: B’s statement to A is hearsay, and C’s statement to B is hearsay.Is
Police officers use information from confidential informants (“CI”) for many reasons. One common reason is to supply the officer with a basis for stopping or arresting a person believed to be committing a crime. For example, assume a CI tells a detective that “John Smith is selling heroin.”
Some states have what is usually called a “public ignominy” statute, which permits a witness to refuse to give testimony that will expose the witness to public ignominy. Nebraska has such a statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1210. Assume a young adult woman, married with small children, is called
Assume you dictated a letter to your secretary to be mailed to your spouse. Are the contents of this letter, assuming they would otherwise constitute marital communications, subject to the marital communication privilege? If not, what about the contents of an e-mail sent on a work e-mail account?
The spousal testimony rule permits one spouse to prevent the other spouse from testifying against the spouse about events occurring during the marriage. It also has the “offense against the other spouse”exception. In Meyers v. Commonwealth, 381 S.W.3d 280 (Ky. 2012) a husband was charged (among
Kentucky retains a “spousal testimony” privilege as well as a “marital communication privilege.” KRE Rule
As this chapter notes, federal courts are split about whether government officials could invoke the attorney-client privilege for communications with government lawyers. In the 2014 case of In re 33rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, 86 A.3d 204, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a state
Police investigations often rely on information supplied by confidential informants (CIs).The privilege given to the police to refuse to divulge the identity of a CI is limited, usually based on whether the CI was involved in the crime or a witness to the crime. Courts often say the identity of a
A defendant charged with murder is held in a jail pending trial. Also in that jail, on unrelated charges, is a prosecution witness in the murder trial. The defendant (client) is represented by a public defender, who learns the client has intimidated the witness into signing a written document
The defendant, charged with murder, asks his wife to tell police he arrived home on the night of the murder at 7:30 P.M., about an hour before the victim was killed. Initially the wife did as requested. However, she subsequently changed her mind, and told police her husband came home at 9:05. At
In a trial on charges of carjacking and robbery police detectives, who listened to and recorded phone conversations between the defendants, are listed as witnesses for the prosecution.They propose to testify about the meaning of certain “street terms” used by the defendants in the recorded
You are the appeals judge in an illegal drugs and weapons case that has been appealed by the defendant to your court. At his trial, the defendant took the witness stand and confessed to all the crimes charged. At the trial’s conclusion the trial judge instructed to jury to return a verdict of
You are the defense attorney in a trial involving the alleged sale of illegal drugs by your client. In your state, the trial judge conducts the voir dire of prospective jury members, and you give questions to the judge with a request the judge ask them of jury members. Would you like the judge to
Most states have adopted rules of evidence closely patterned after the Federal Rules of Evidence.That is the case in North Carolina. Under Rules 701 and 702, what must the prosecution produce to prove the “mental disability” element of a crime described as a sexual act with a mentally disabled
A husband and wife are charged with sexual assault against a child. The husband pleads guilty, and agrees to testify against the wife. The prosecution wishes to introduce two photographs allegedly taken by the husband during or just before the sexual assault. One photograph shows the palm of a
As we saw in Chapter 2, evidence of past crimes is generally inadmissible, unless offered to prove some other material fact. Assume you are the prosecutor in a robbery/first-degree murder trial of a defendant charged with robbing and murdering a known drug dealer. You have reliable witnesses (FBI
Dunn is charged with battery after striking the victim outside a bar. Dunn admits striking the victim, but alleges he acted in self-defense.The prosecution seeks to introduce a voice mail left on the victim’s cell phone message system by Dunn’s girlfriend. The substance of the voice message is
A young woman wakes up in a bed in a hotel.Her state of dress appears to have been altered from that of the previous evening. The man who took her to the hotel had a bottle of Rohypnol, the “date rape” drug, in his possession. Experts testified that the woman had been drugged with Rohypnol. The
An experienced law enforcement officer used the following incident as an example for classes. The officer’s wife was babysitting their 3-year-old grandson while the parents were away. No one else was in the house when the grandmother put the child to bed for an afternoon nap. A short time later,
Kent Hansen was sitting on a public park bench close to a man who was smoking a marijuana cigarette. When an officer in plain clothes saw the marijuana cigarette and smelled burning marijuana, he arrested both men. The officer did not see Hansen holding or smoking the marijuana cigarette. Could the
A guard at the state prison in Walpole, Massachusetts, heard loud voices coming from a walkway. The officer immediately opened the door to the walkway and saw “an inmate named Stephens bleeding from the mouth and suffering from a swollen eye. Dirt was strewn about the walkway, which the officer
A New York state trooper saw a car traveling at an excessive rate of speed on the New York Thruway. The officer overtook the speeding vehicle and stopped it. Four men were in the vehicle, two in the front seat and two in the back seat. While the officer was asking the driver for his license and
In many criminal prosecutions, convicting a defendant of the crime charged also entitles the prosecution to seize money used in or derived from the crime. What about seizing money before conviction, with the result the defendants can’t afford to hire a lawyer? Is the grand jury’s probable cause
Many, perhaps most, murder convictions are based on circumstantial evidence. When an appeals court reviews a jury verdict of guilty, the “insufficient evidence” claim will almost always be part of the appeal. As we saw in this chapter, appellate courts do not easily overthrow a jury verdict
A similar problem can arise when the prosecution seeks to introduce posts to social media like a defendant’s Facebook page. Social media posts can be falsified. How does the prosecution prove the posts it wants in as evidence were done by the defendant? Consider the “content rule,” evidenced
Proving the sender of an e-mail message can be a problem. Rule 901 of the Federal Rules of Evidence requires that items like e-mails be authenticated, to show they are “what the proponent claims” they are. How is that to be done with an e-mail when no witnesses can testify they saw the e-mail
Review of a state conviction in a federal habeas corpus hearing can create tension between the federal courts and the state. For example, a claim first asserted in a habeas hearing that could have been asserted in a state review of a conviction but was not properly raised by the defendant causes
The Bail Reform Act, discussed in this chapter, sets the rules for federal judges and magistrates to follow when a defendant requests bail. When a federal magistrate sets bail, the magistrate’s decision can be reviewed by the federal judge for that judicial district. What factors do the
What happens when a defendant breaches a plea agreement before sentencing? In United States v. Hallahan, 2014 WL 744 F.3d 497(7th Cir. 2014) a defendant reached a plea agreement with the prosecution, but fled before sentencing. Twelve years later she was captured, and resentenced pursuant to the
When a plea agreement is made, the parties are expected to honor the agreement. In Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257 (1971) the U.S.Supreme Court held that breach of a plea agreement by the prosecution makes the resulting sentence invalid, and the defendant must be resentenced in accord with the
Are confessions or incriminating statements available as evidence? If so, where and when were the statements made?Were they recorded on audio or video? If so, by whom?Can they be seriously attacked as made involuntarily?Are there omissions, false statements, or inaccuracies in the statements?Are
Is there a suspect or suspects? What are the reasons for targeting the suspect? Are any persons related to the case in police custody? If so, on what charges? Are charges for an offense other than the crime under investigation? If so, are the offenses related? Is there an opportunity for multiple
What are some likely ways the witnesses may be attacked on cross-examination?What evidence is available to corroborate statements made by witnesses, especially eyewitnesses?
What witnesses are available, and how reliable and dependable are the witnesses?Have the witnesses categorized below been evaluated (on a scale from excellent to poor, or unknown) on their reliability, dependability, credibility, willingness to testify, and importance of their testimony, as well as
Was the physical evidence obtained in a manner that may be seriously attacked or suppressed under the exclusionary or derivative evidence rule? Are there problems with the chain of custody of the evidence?
What physical evidence is available?DNA Latent prints Weapons Ballistics Stolen property Documents Videos or photos Sexual assault evidence Illegal drug evidence Test results
All courts agree that requiring a defendant to appear at trial in identifiable prison clothing violates the fair trial right. Why does the defendant’s compelled appearance in prison clothes have that effect? Should the same result be reached if the witnesses for the defendant, who at the time of
Defendant was convicted of “increasing speed to escape” a police officer after he failed to stop when a police cruiser pulled up behind him with flashing lights. At defendant’s trial, the prosecutor said in the state’s summation argument to the jury that “If I’m going to convict
At the end of a criminal trial, after all the evidence has been admitted, the case goes to the jury for its verdict. Before the jury goes to the jury room to deliberate, the trial judge gives the jury instructions. Jury instructions address many aspects of the trial, such as the elements of the
In this chapter, we stated that criminal defendants are entitled to a “Fair (Not Perfect) Trial.”This means that sometimes mistakes can be made in a criminal trial, but the trial is nonetheless“fair.” Mistakes during a trial have historically been classified as either “structural”
What do you envision as the future of problem-solving courts? Will additional types of courts develop in the years to come? If so, what types of courts might these be?
What are the pros and cons of prosecuting juveniles in adult criminal courts? Would you favor or oppose a "blanket rule" that all crimes involving youth under a certain age- say 16-must be adjudicated in a juvenile court? Why?
How do juvenile courts differ from adult criminal courts? What accounts for these differences?
lf you were a local elected official and could choose whether to fund a community court, a homeless court, a mental health court, veterans court, or areentry court, which would you choose? Why?
Why did arrests for domestic violence increase following the implementation of the Lexington County (South Carolina} Domestic Violence Court?
How does the focus of domestic violence courts and veterans courts differ from that of drug treatment courts and other problemsolving courts?
Assume that you have been asked to evaluate the effectiveness of a specialized court. How would you measure the court's success?
How does restorative justice differ from the other utilitarian perspectives on punishment?How are the principles of restorative justice incorporated into problem-solving courts?
What are the advantages of adjudicating cases—for example, domestic violence cases or cases involving defendants with mental health problems—in a specialized court? Are there any disadvantages to this approach?
How do specialized courts, such as drug treatment courts, differ from traditional courts? What do you think is the most important difference between these types of courts?
Explain the types of appeals discussed in this chapter that are guaranteed by the Constitution. Do people convicted of crimes have the right to at least one appeal? If so, who guarantees this right?
Why is it important for prosecutors to have the ability to file an interlocutory appeal?
What types of cases are heard by the U.S.Supreme Court? What functions does the U.S. Supreme Court serve?
Describe the processes by which a state case can make its way to the U.S.Supreme Court (see the “Key Cases: Warren McCleskey’s Odyssey” box).
What is the “harmless error rule,” and how does it affect the appellate process? In your opinion, does the rule have a positive or negative effect on the quality of justice meted out in criminal courts?
Most criminal appeals are not heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Why do you think that the Court agreed to accept Clarence Earl Gideon's in forma pauperis petition for a writ of certiorari?
Do you agree or disagree with the Supreme Court's restrictions on the use of the habeas corpus petition? Why?
How does habeas corpus differ from a direct appeal? Can anyone convicted of a crime petition for a writ of habeas corpus? What are the advantages/disadvantages of the use of habeas corpus?
Why is the writ of habeas corpus referred to as “the Great Writ”?
What is the Double Jeopardy Clause? How does it affect the appellate process?
What purpose do appeals serve in criminal cases? Why is this important?
Why is sentencing referred to as an "inexact science"? Could it be made more "exact"? Should it be?
Is it legitimate for judges to impose a trial penalty or jury tax on defendants who refuse to plead guilty? What are the arguments in favor of the trial penalty? Against the trial penalty?
Should judges take the characteristics of the victim or the relationship between the victim and the offender into consideration when determining the appropriate punishment? Why or why not? According to research on the death penalty and on sentencing decisions in sexual assault cases, do judges take
What explains the fact that offenders convicted of crimes in the United States are sentenced more harshly than those convicted of crimes in England and Wales?
What are the key determinants of judges’sentencing decisions? Why are these two factors so important?
How do researchers model the sentencing process?
What are the most common types of sentences imposed by judges in state and federal courts in the United States?Why are intermediate sanctions used so infrequently?
Why did Judge Lynch conclude that the sentence he was required to impose on“Eddie” was “unjust”? Do you agree or disagree with his conclusion?
What problems do each of the philosophical perspectives on sentencing—retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation—encounter in attempting to determine how much to punish?
According to retributive theory, why do those who violate the law deserve to be punished?
How would a judge using a retributive justification for punishment answer the question, Why do we punish those who violate the law?” How would a judge using a utilitarian justification answer the question?
Why do you believe criminal trials in the United States follow such an orderly sequence of events such as that described in this chapter?
Do you agree or disagree with Paul Butler's call for “race-conscious jury nullification”? What are the dangers inherent in allowing jurors to nullify the law based on the race of the defendant?
Should juries be notified by the judge that they are allowed to nullify the law? Are there situations when jury nullification can be justified? Where it produces injustice rather than justice?
What problems could arise from requiring all juries to return a unanimous verdict in order to convict an individual of a crime? Allowing nonunanimous verdicts?
Should jurors be allowed to base a decision to sentence an offender to death rather than to life in prison on predictions of future dangerousness? Why or why not?
What are the consequences of jury instructions being given in technical legal terms to jurors? What are the pros and cons to making the jury instruction process more comprehensible to laypeople?

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Criminal Courts A Contemporary Perspective 4th Edition Craig T. Hemmens, David C. Brody, Cassia Spohn - Solutions

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