Arrest, search, and seizure [Fourth Amendment] - Next Generation Bar Exam

1. Which exigent circumstances may justify a warrantless entry into a home?

   Hot pursuit of a fleeing felon, imminent destruction of evidence, and the need to render emergency aid. The exigency must not be created by police conduct that violates the Fourth Amendment.

2. What justifies a warrantless search under the automobile exception?

   Probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband or evidence. Police may search any part of the vehicle and any container where the item may be found.

3. When may police make a warrantless arrest in a public place?

   On probable cause that the person committed a felony, or a misdemeanor in the officer's presence. Atwater v. City of Lago Vista allowed custodial arrest even for a minor fine-only offense.

4. Under Arizona v. Gant, when may police search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant's arrest?

   When the arrestee is unsecured within reaching distance, or it is reasonable to believe evidence of the arrest offense is inside. Otherwise a warrant or another exception, such as the automobile exception, is needed.

5. What must a defendant show to challenge a search under the Fourth Amendment?

   That the defendant's own reasonable expectation of privacy was violated. An overnight guest has such an expectation in the host's home; a person present briefly for a commercial transaction does not.

6. Under Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, what makes consent to a search valid?

   Voluntariness under the totality of the circumstances. The person need not know of the right to refuse.

7. When does government conduct constitute a search under the Fourth Amendment?

   When it intrudes on a reasonable expectation of privacy or physically trespasses on a protected area to obtain information. Katz established the privacy test, and United States v. Jones revived the trespass test.

8. What are the requirements of the plain-view doctrine?

   A lawful vantage point, a lawful right of access to the item, and an immediately apparent incriminating character. The officer must have probable cause to believe the item is contraband or evidence without further search.

9. What are the requirements of a valid search warrant?

   Probable cause, particular description of the place and items, and issuance by a neutral and detached magistrate. Probable cause is a fair probability that evidence will be found in the place to be searched.

10. Under Payton v. New York, what do police need to enter a suspect's home to make a routine arrest?

    An arrest warrant, absent exigent circumstances or consent. To arrest a suspect in a third party's home, police need a search warrant under Steagald.

11. Under Terry v. Ohio, what justifies a brief investigatory stop and a frisk?

    Reasonable suspicion of criminal activity for the stop, and reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous for the frisk. The frisk is limited to a pat-down of outer clothing for weapons.

12. Under Carpenter v. United States, what does obtaining historical cell-site location records ordinarily require?

    A warrant supported by probable cause. The third-party doctrine does not extend to a detailed chronicle of a person's movements.

13. Which exceptions allow admission of evidence despite a Fourth Amendment violation?

    Good-faith reliance, independent source, inevitable discovery, and attenuation. The exclusionary rule applies only where its deterrence benefits outweigh its costs.

14. Without a warrant, police use a thermal-imaging device from the street to detect heat patterns inside a home. Under Kyllo v. United States, what is the status of the surveillance?

    It is a search that presumptively requires a warrant. Using technology not in general public use to learn details of the home's interior is a search.

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