6.1: Overview, Objectives, and Key Terms
Overview
This chapter focuses on the search warrant procedure and what can happen if a warrant is not conducted properly. Proper criminal investigation and the ability to obtain evidence are vital to ensure the proper person is arrested, tried in a court of law, and convicted. However, this could be jeopardized if the proper search and seizure procedures are not followed. While search warrants initially may seem like a straightforward process, this chapter will show there are many requirements to properly obtaining a search warrant collect evidence. If not followed properly, evidence obtained illegally (or in violation of the policies) could result in the evidence being excluded from trial. Even if that evidence is conclusive evidence of guilt. Additionally, the advancement of technology has impacted the search warrant process. As you will see, a citizen's expectation of privacy guides many of the search warrant procedures. By the end of this chapter, you should be able to identify the rules in obtaining a search warrant, how technological advancements have changed and shaped the search warrant process, the court cases that guide the search warrant process, what can occur if evidence is obtained improperly and the situations where evidence can be seized without a warrant.
- Identify the purpose of the 4th Amendment and protections from unlawful searches.
- Identify the exceptions to obtaining a search warrant.
- Explain the history and evolution of the 4th Amendment and the search warrant process.
- Identify the important Supreme Court cases that guide search warrant procedure.
- Explain what happens to the evidence if a search warrant is not served properly or evidence is collected without a warrant or a legal exception.
- Explain what a consent search is and how to ensure consent is not coerced.
Key Terms
Searches, seizures, search warrant, consent, reasonable expectation of privacy, probable cause, exclusionary rule, “fruit of the poisonous tree,” “good faith exception,” inevitable discovery, right to privacy, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001, independent source doctrine, attenuation doctrine, evidence admissible for impeachment, qualified immunity, “reasonable man,” reasonable expectation of privacy, consent searches