Criminal Law and Procedure Unit One
Exclusionary rule evidentiary hearing Class work
Bell:
The Battle for Evidence
The parties to a trial must bring forth evidence in order to win their case. In criminal law many
cases are won and lost during a Fourth Amendment hearing. During that hearing:


The defendant moves to suppress illegally seized evidence, and
The prosecution argues for a reason to keep evidence in the case.
If evidence is suppressed at trial the prosecutor often cannot win her case. If evidence is allowed
at trial the defendant will often lose their case (or be forced to enter into a plea bargain).
The Task
Make groups of three students and assign one of the three scenarios attached to this sheet to each
student. Next, complete on your own part one and two of the attached worksheet. When you are
done work in groups of three to argue the following scenarios. For each scenario:



One student person will argue for the due process perspective in trying to keep the
evidence out of court using the rationale of the perspective (not the actual scenario),
One student person will argue for the crime control perspective in trying to keep the
evidence out of court using the rationale of the perspective (not the actual scenario), and
The last person will “rule” on the case using their arguments presented to explain why he or
she would suppress or keep the evidence.
Scoring:



5 points for setting forth the correct issue within a scenario.
5 points for analyzing the two sides as set forth by the respective perspectives, and
5 points for basing a decision on the supporting research and ruling for one side.
GOOD LUCK!
Criminal Law and Procedure Unit One
Exclusionary rule evidentiary hearing Class work
Scenario One – Jefferson is sitting on his couch in his house on a Thursday evening. Earlier in
the day Jefferson bought some of the “co-co” from a local drug dealer and is now enjoying his
illegal purchase.
Unfortunately for Jefferson the police are ready to search his house based on a warrant that
states, “We have probable cause that Jefferson is selling stolen flat screen television sets out
of his home.” Jefferson has no television sets and, more importantly, the police do not have
enough reason to legally search his home for televisions.
Even so the police went to a judge to get a warrant and the judge improperly gave them a
warrant. The police then bust into Jefferson’s home and do not find what they were looking for
as stated in the warrant. What they do find is Jefferson lying unconscious on his couch with
traces of the “co-co” staining his couch, his table and his face.
Scenario Two – Lincoln works in an Italian restaurant that the police believe is a hotbed for
illegal gambling activity. Lincoln does not gamble, but he sometimes takes bets over the phone
by accepting an “order” from a “customer.” For example, when a customer orders the “chicken
parmesan special” from Lincoln, he relays the order to a bookie. To get credit for the bet the
bookie writes “Link-bet $100” in a ledger.
The police are ready to move in on the operation and seize the evidence. As one of the officers
waits for a really old judge to sign off on a warrant, the other officers get nervous. When it looks
like the restaurant will close before the police can raid the place, the police move in and execute
the warrant. The police then seize everything including the ledger.
After the police look over the ledger they ask Lincoln to identify himself. Lincoln, who is
handcuffed to a chair at the moment, tells the police his name. The police then walk over to him
with the ledger in hand and ask “Are you ‘Link?’” Lincoln confesses and is taken to jail.
Scenario Three – Washington is hanging out on a street corner in a rough neighborhood when a
patrol officer drives by. Unbeknownst to the patrol officer, the anti-gang unit is investigating
Washington for violent gang activity and has enough information at the moment to arrest him for
being a violent gang member. The unit does not arrest Washington though as they are trying to
bust other gang members as well.
As soon as Washington sees the patrol officer he takes off running down the street. The officer
jumps out of his car and gives chase simply because Washington ran when he saw the officer.
The officer eventually catches up to Washington and tackles him to the ground. The officer then
searches Washington and finds a large caliber handgun stuffed into Washington’s belt. The
officer then formally arrests Washington and carts him off to jail.
Criminal Law and Procedure Unit One
Exclusionary rule evidentiary hearing Class work
Part One:
I worked on scenario (circle one): One
Two
Three
A.
What are the facts of the case that are most important?
B.
What is the exclusionary rule issue that is the focus of the case?
What argument supports the due process perspective?
-
Argument:
What arguments supports the crime control perspective?
-
Argument:
Part Two:
I am the judge in which scenario (circle one):
One
Two
Three
1.
Based on the facts (not the perspectives) I would (circle one):
Suppress
Allow
2.
Who wins and why based on who convinced you that their perspective was right, not
on the law itself?