Criminal
Investigation
eighth edition
TWENTY-ONE
The Investigator and The Legal System
Swanson • Chamelin • Territo
McGraw-Hill
© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Distinguish between detention, arrest, and charging
• Explain the benefit of a police officer=s making an arrest
under the authority of a warrant
• Define and describe probable cause
• Discuss the risk factors involved in making a premature
arrest
• Briefly outline the steps in a trial process
• Assess the importance of a criminal investigator’s
knowing the rules of evidence
• Describe the hearsay rule and the philosophy under
which the exception to this rule have evolved
• Explain the reason for the existence of evidentiary
privileges
• Discuss the role of an investigator as a witness in a
criminal trial
• Explain the purpose of cross-examination
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21-1
© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
ARREST
• The process of taking a person into legal
custody to answer a criminal charge
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21-2
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ARRESTS, DETENTION, CHARGING
• There are three essential ingredients of an
arrest:
– Intention
– Authority
– Custody
McGraw-Hill
21-3(a)© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
ARRESTS, DETENTION, CHARGING (cont'd)
• Arrest Distinguished from Detention. Detention is
a temporary and limited interference with the
freedom of a person for investigative purposes.
• Arrest Distinguished from Charging. Formally
charging a suspect with a crime does not
automatically flow from an arrest. Charging
follows a decision to prosecute.
McGraw-Hill
21-3(b)© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
ARRESTS, DETENTION, CHARGING (cont'd)
• When circumstances allow this is the preferred
method of arrest
• Warrants must be approved by a judge
• Arrest warrants are considered a judicial order
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ARRESTS, DETENTION, CHARGING (cont'd)
• Prior approval by a judge relieves the police of
proving the legality of the arrest
• Prior approval also provides an independent
evaluation of evidence
McGraw-Hill
21-4(b)© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
PROBABLE CAUSE
• A condition in which an officer has suspicion
about an individual and knowledge of facts and
circumstances that would lead a reasonable
person to believe that a crime has been, is
being, or is about to be committed
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21-5
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FRONT OF AN ARREST WARRANT
• Note the arrest
warrant includes:
– The name of the
officer authorized to
execute it
– The applicable
statute(s)
– The name of the
person to be arrested
– The judge’s name
(Source: Courtesy Geauga County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Department)
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21-6
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EVALUATING THE CASE
• Investigators must consider risk factors in
deciding when to arrest
– Whether the suspect will flee if allowed to remain free
– The potential danger to others if the suspect is free
– Hardships imposed on the suspect by early
incarceration
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21-7
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STEPS IN THE TRIAL PROCESS
• Investigators seldom get to attend a full trial
• As a result they may not be fully aware of all the
steps including:
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Direct examinations
Cross examinations
Redirect examinations
Recross examination
Rebuttal
Surrebuttal
Closing arguments
21-8
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KNOWING RULES OF EVIDENCE
• Criminal investigators need a good working
knowledge of rules of evidence
• The are responsible for collecting and
preserving evidence for use by prosecutors
• They must be able to distinguish between:
– Factual material that is admissible in court and,
– That which is worthless as evidence
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21-9
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EVIDENCE
• Anything that tends logically to prove or disprove
a fact at issue in a judicial case or controversy
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PROOF
• The combination of all the evidence in
determining the guilt or innocence of a person
accused of a crime
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THE RELATION OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF
• In this pie diagram:
– Slices of the pie are matters of evidence
– The entire pie might constitute proof of guilt
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21-12© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
JUDICIAL NOTICE
• The doctrine of judicial notice is an evidentiary
shortcut. Judicial notice is designed to speed up
the trial and eliminate the necessity of formally
proving the truth of a particular matter when the
truth is not in dispute.
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TYPES OF EVIDENCE
• Direct Evidence
– Direct evidence usually is the testimony of witnesses
that ties the defendant directly to the commission of
the crime
• Real Evidence
– Sometimes referred to as “physical evidence,” real
evidence is connected with the commission of the
crime and can be produced in court
• Demonstrative Evidence
– Demonstrative, or illustrative evidence consists of
maps, diagrams, sketches, photographs, tape
recordings, videotapes,
X-rays, and visual tests and demonstrations produced
to assist witnesses in explaining their testimony
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21-14(a)
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TYPES OF EVIDENCE (cont'd)
• Circumstantial Evidence
– The broad definition of circumstantial evidence
encompasses all evidence other than direct evidence,
provided that it logically relates the defendant to the
crime
• Opinion Evidence
– Matters of description in which a nonexpert may give
an opinion include color, size, shape, speed, mental
condition, identity, race, and language
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21-14(b)
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THE INTRODUCTION OF DEMONSTRATIVE
EVIDENCE AT TRIAL
• Demonstration evidence includes items such as:
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maps
diagrams
sketches
photos
tape recordings
(Courtesy Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)
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EXPERT WITNESS
• A person who is called to testify in court because
of his or her special skills or knowledge;
permitted to interpret facts and give opinions
about their significance to facilitate jurors’
understanding of complex or technical matters
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HEARSAY EVIDENCE
• The fact that stories tend to be changed when
they are repeated makes their reliability and
truthfulness questionable. For this reason, the
hearsay rule was created. Hearsay is derived
from “heard say”
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EXCEPTIONS TO THE HEARSAY RULE
• If the circumstances surrounding the hearsay
evidence can ensure a high degree of
trustworthiness and reliability, that evidence is
admissible as an exception to the rule in order to
minimize any injustice
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Confessions
Admissions
Spontaneous and Excited Utterances
Dying Declarations
Former Testimony
21-18
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EVIDENTIARY PRIVILEGES
• Defendants and other witnesses have a right to
have certain matters of communication barred
from disclosure in court
– Confidential communications between husband and
wife
– Confidential communications between attorney and
client
– Grand jury proceedings that are confidential
requirements of law are barred
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21-19© 2003, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
THE ROLE OF THE POLICE WITNESS
• The investigator must inform the jury of the
matters investigated in the case
• The investigator presents this information so that
the jury understands the sequence events and
their significance
• The investigator may not offer personal
conclusions
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