Welcome to Eight Skills
for the Effective Online
Paralegal Student!!
Unit 3 Seminar –
Remembering
Final Project Proposal – Possible Interview
Questions
• Education and Training/ Licensing and
Certification
• What type of training did you undergo to
become a [ ] ?
• How long did it take?
• What kind of educational background is most
relevant
• How long have you been a [ ]?
Possible Questions (Continued)
• Reasons for Choosing the Career
• Why did becoming a [ ] appeal to you?
• What does your day typically look like? What
do you do?
• Are you happy with being a [ ]?
• Have you ever thought about another career?
Why or why not?
Sonia’s Scenario
• What do you think the letter means?
• How would you help Sonia interpret the
letter?
• Do you think it means Sonia won't get paid
for her loss of work?
• Would you advise her to get a lawyer?
Seminar Agenda: Week 3
• Final Project Proposal
• Possible interview questions
• Sonia Scenario
• LASSI
• Interpreting your scores
• Using the information
• Remembering
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Types of Memory
“to Know” vs. to memorize
What gets in the way of remembering
How to remember better
• Study Environments
Three types of memory:
Sensory memory
Short term memory
Long term memory
Knowing v. Memorizing
• What’s the difference?
• How long does each last?
• How do you move something from mere
rote memory to knowing?
Memory Hinderances
Internal and external distractions
Alcohol
Drugs
Stress
Closed-mindedness (tuning out things you
don’t like)
• Inability to distinguish important facts from
unimportant facts
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Memory Helpers
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Proper sleep
Proper nutrition/diet
Exercise
Mental exercises such as crossword puzzles,
brain teasers, name games
A positive mind-set
The proper environment
Scheduled study breaks
Repetition and visualization
Visualization: Does it help? How can
we incorporate visualization into our
learning habits?
• Should help us to put something in LTM.
• Part of a process: VCR3
• Ways to visualize?
What are some memory devices or
tools, and how can they help you
study?
• SQ3R
• Mnemonic devices (Tons of examples)
• Cooperative learning methods
SQ3R
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Survey
Question
Read
Recite
Review
Mnemonic devices
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Sentences
Words
Acronyms
Storylines
Jingles or songs
What is your study environment
like?
• Does it work well for you?
• Do you study in the same place or different
places
• If you don't have one, what do you think
your ideal study environment would be?
• Why is this important?
Questions?
Chapter 4
Search and Seizure
Introduction
Of paramount importance in criminal investigations
is the officer’s ability to be aware of and work within
constitutional and departmental guidelines.
Due Process and the Constitution
• Bill of rights
• Granting individual freedoms
• Fourteenth Amendment, passed in1868,
guarantees three classes of rights:
• Privileges and immunities of citizens of the United
States
• Due process of law
• Equal protection under the law
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Fourth Amendment
• Unreasonable searches and seizures clause
• Warrants clause
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Fifth Amendment
• Privilege against self-incrimination clause
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Sixth Amendment
• Right of confrontation clause
• Right to council clause
Legal Guidelines for Searches
• The probable cause requirement
• The minimum amount of information necessary to
warrant a reasonable person to believe that a crime
has been or is being committed by a person who is
about to be arrested.
• Exclusionary rule
• Courts will exclude any evidence that was illegally
obtained even though it may be relevant and
material.
• Mapp v. Ohio
Fruit of the Poisoned Tree Doctrine
• If the prosecutions case is based-on evidence that
is obtained from an illegal search or seizure then it
is considered “tainted.”
• “Tainted” evidence is inadmissible in a case.
• Violation of due process
• Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States (1918)
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
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Chimel v. California (1969)
• A search can only be made incidental to a lawful
arrest and must be confined to the area around the
suspect’s immediate control.
• Scope of the search
• Relates to an officer’s authority to search incident
to an arrest
Exceptions to the Exclusionary Rule
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Good faith exception
• Use of evidence obtained by officers acting in
reasonable reliance on a search warrant issued by a
neutral magistrate but that is ultimately found invalid.
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Inevitable discovery exception
• Evidence that has been seized illegally or evidence
stemming from illegally seized evidence is admissible
if the police can prove that they would have inevitably
discovered it anyway by lawful means.
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Computer errors exception
• Officers acting in good faith based on the information
available to them cannot be held responsible for a
clerical error made by a court worker.
Searches With a Warrant
• Authorizes the search of homes, businesses,
and vehicles of suspects
• Typically results in the arrest of multiple
suspects
• Expedites investigation and subsequent case
closure
• Advantages of searching with a search
warrant:
• Recover stolen property
• Seize drugs or other contraband
• Seize any other type of property used in the
commission of a crime
Legal Requirements for a Search
Warrant
It must be authorized by the proper official.
It must be issued only for specifically authorized
objects.
• It must be issued on probable cause.
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Search Warrant Affidavit
• Presents facts that the
officer believes
constitute probable
cause to justify the
issuance of a warrant.
• The affidavit tells the
judge 3 things:
• What is being searched
for
• Where the search is to
occur
• Why the search is to be
conducted
The Warrant
• Sets forth the same
facts out-lined in the
affidavit:
• Reasons to request the
search
• Name of the officer
requesting the warrant
• Items to be seized
• Specific place to be
searched
• Signature of the issuing
judge
• Prior to signing, the
affiant (the officer) must
be certain that he or she
is first sworn in by a
judge.
The Search Warrant Return
• Name of the officer
serving the warrant
• The date the warrant
was served
• An itemized list of all
property seized
• The name of the
owner of the place
searched
• The signature of the
officer who served the
warrant
• The signature of the
issuing judge
Execution of the Warrant
• Once issued, the search warrant is basically an
order by the court to execute it.
• The officer has no choice but to do so.
• Execution guidelines may include:
• Authorization for a specific officer or class of officer
to execute
• Time limitations
Anticipatory Search Warrants
Based-on an affidavit showing probable cause to
believe that at some future time a specific crime
will occur at a specific place.
• “Triggering condition”
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United States v. Grubbs (2004)
• “…fair probability that contraband or evidence of a
crime will be found in a particular place”
• Probably cause to believe that the triggering condition
will occur
Warrantless Searches
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Consent Searches
• When a suspect gives permission
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Searches under exigent circumstances
• Public safety or loss of important evidence
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Searches incident to lawful arrest
• Search of arrested suspect and the immediate area
around him or her
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Plain-view searches
Automobile searches
Open-field searches
Sample Consent-to-Search Form
Stop-and-Frisk Searches
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When a crime is suspected to be occurring
To investigate suspicious circumstances
• “Reasonable suspicion”
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To make identification of a suspect
Terry v. Ohio (1968)
Field Interviews Versus “Consensual
Encounters”
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Field interviews
• Are “seizures” of the person within the meaning of
the 4th Amendment
• Therefore, “reasonable suspicion” applies
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“Consensual encounters”
• An officer may approach and ask a person
questions
• The individual must reasonably believe that they
were “free to leave”
• If, during that, evidence is discovered then it may
be admitted
Factors Defining a Field Interview
• Interference with the suspect’s freedom of
movement
• Number of officers and their behavior
• Physical contact with the suspect
• Retaining personal property of the suspect
“Terry stop”—Pat-Down Searches
• Must be based-on reasonable suspicion
• The right to stop does not automatically give the
officer a right to conduct a pat-down search
• Certain factors may justify
• Suspects behavior, number of suspects, time of day,
etc.
• Pat-down is a limited search (“frisk”)
Plain-View Doctrine
Investigation or confiscation of evidence, without
a warrant, based on what officers find in plain
view and open to public inspection
• Three criteria:
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• The officer must be present lawfully at the location
to be searched
• The item seized must have been found
inadvertently
• The item is contraband or would be useful as
evidence of a crime
Automobile Searches
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Carroll Doctrine
• The right to search a vehicle does not depend on
the right to arrest the driver but on the premise
that the contents of the vehicle contain evidence of
a crime.
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Vehicle inventory search
• Officers may search a vehicle that is moving or
about to be moved, if there is probable cause that
the vehicle contains items that are legally
seizeable.
Open-Field Searches
Open fields are not protected by the Fourth
Amendment.
• A person’s “reasonable expectation of privacy”
under the Fourth Amendment does not apply.
• Curtilage is protected and is related to:
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• The proximity of the area to the home
• Whether the area is within an enclosure
surrounding the home
• The nature and uses of the area
• The steps taken to conceal the area from public
view
Phases of a Search
• Surveying the crime scene
• Documenting the crime scene through sketches
and photographs
• Recording all physical evidence
• Searching for fingerprints
Search Patterns
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Indoor crime scene searches
Outdoor crime scene searches
Nighttime crime scene searches
Vehicle searches
Body cavity (Strip) searches
Search Patterns
Searching the Scene
Principle concern is to observe and document the
scene rather than take action
• Rules for collecting evidence
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• Collected in a comprehensive, nondestructive
manner,
• within a reasonable period, and
• with a minimum of unnecessary movement about
the scene.
Gathering and Preserving Evidence
Evidence collected must be consistent with each
law enforcement agency’s policy and procedure
and should be in keeping with the accepted rules
of evidence.
• Chain of custody
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• Total accounting of evidence by adhering to
guidelines
• Limit number of evidence handlers
• Document anyone who handles evidence and changes
to condition of the evidence
Marking the Evidence
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Evidence has label with:
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Case number
Exhibit number
Date and time of seizure
Name and description of articles
Location at time of discovery
Signature or initial of officer making the discovery
Name or initial of others witnessing the discovery
Special Cases in Evidence Handling
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Infected evidence
Hepatitis B
Firearms
Bullets, cartridges, and empty cases
Stains
Glass
Impressions
Drugs
Plant material
Powdered material
Liquid material
Tablets or capsules
Method for the Proper Sealing
of Crime Scene Evidence