Chapter 5
Probable Cause and Arrest
Arrest
an individual is lawfully taken into custody
 more intrusive than an investigative stop
and frisk
 formal arrest
 de facto arrest
 based on the totality of the circumstances
 a reasonable person would conclude that
he/she is under arrest
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Probable Cause
requires that a police officer objectively
conclude, based on reasonably reliable
facts, that a crime has been committed and
that the person being arrested has
committed the crime
 based on
 “common sense”
 “practical evaluation of the totality of the
facts”
 cannot be reduced to a set of rules or to a
mathematical formula
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Probable Cause (cont.)
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a matter of “probabilities” rather than
“certainties”
more than reasonable suspicion
less than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard
direct observations
hearsay
The Aguilar-Spinelli Test
two-pronged test
 veracity
 basis-of-knowledge
 both prongs must be satisfied in the
affidavit
 established in Aguilar v. Texas
 supported by Spinelli v. United States
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Legal Equation
Totality of the Circumstances
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Justice Black: “[n]othing in our Constitution . . .
requires that the facts be established with that
degree of certainty and with such elaborate
specificity before a policeman can be authorized by
a disinterested magistrate” to conduct an arrest or
search based on probable cause
Illinois v. Gates
the veracity and basis-of-knowledge prongs are not
independent requirements both of which must be
established
Totality (cont.)
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three aspects of a tip to be considered
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future action
type of information
corroboration
Aguilar-Spinelli test very difficult to satisfy,
especially with confidential informants
concern in the dissent over the courts
becoming “rubber stamps” for the police
PC, Warrants, and the Courts
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neutral and detached judge or magistrate
Aquilar v. Texas: “the informed and deliberate
determinations of magistrates empowered to
issue warrants . . . are to be preferred over the
hurried action of officers . . . who happen to
make arrests.”
primary factors
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probable cause
neutral officials
warrants and affidavits
judicial official
PC, Warrants, and the Courts (cont.)
areas for challenging a warrant
 probable cause
 affidavit
 procedural irregularity
 Gerstein hearing
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Arrests and Warrants
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arrests with warrants are preferred but often
times warrants may slow the enforcement of
the law
warrantless arrests in public of individuals
based on probable cause that they have
committed a felony is consistent with the
historic practice of the common law as well
as with state statutes and state constitutions
warrantless arrest of individuals is
permissible even when the officers could
have obtained a warrant
Arrests and Warrants (cont.)
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misdemeanors
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U.S. Supreme Court has held that a misdemeanor must
be witnessed by the officer for a warrantless arrest to
occur
several state legislatures have enacted legislation for
warrantless arrests for common misdemeanors such as
shoplifting and domestic violence
exigent circumstances
Arrests in the Home
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Payton v. New York:
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absent consent or exigent circumstances
an arrest warrant founded on probable cause is
required to arrest individuals in the home
when there is “reason to believe that the suspect is
within”
utmost right to privacy in one’s home
doorways
common hallways
hotels
Legal Equation
Exigent Circumstances
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an urgent need to take action
Warden v. Hayden: the Fourth Amendment
“does not require police officers to delay in
the course of an investigation [if] to do so
would gravely endanger their lives or the
lives of others”
hot pursuit
public safety
destruction of evidence
flight
Legal Equation
Deadly Force
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balancing test is used to determine
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when it is reasonable for the police to use physical
force in making an arrest
how much force is reasonable for the police to use
under the circumstances
fleeing-felon rule
Tennessee v. Garner: “[w]here the officer has
probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a
threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or
to others, it is not constitutionally unreasonable to
prevent escape by using deadly force”
Legal Equation
Nondeadly Force
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Graham v. Connor: whether the use of
force to seize an individual is objectively
reasonable under the totality of the
circumstances
courts must consider the circumstances
confronting the police at the time rather
than analyze the situation with the benefit
of “20/20 vision of hindsight”
Misdemeanors, Arrests, and Citations
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arrest vs. citation
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista: state’s choice