Case Study 1: The Officer and the Drug Arrest

THE OFFICER AND THE DRUG ARREST

CRJ 325 Criminal Procedure

Week 2 Case Study 1

Introduction

Officer Jones is a veteran officer with the Smithville police department. He received information that a citizen living in the local housing project was selling drugs. This information was conveyed to Officer Jones by an anonymous caller to the officer on his personal cell phone. Officer Jones immediately went to the housing project and stopped the citizen as he was leaving his apartment. Officer Jones searched the citizen and found drugs. In this sense, Officer Jones used probable cause to search the individual on the grounds of having an adequate reason to conduct the search initially.

Identify the constitutional amendment that would govern Officer Jones’ actions. In your own opinion, discuss if you support his actions or not. Justify your answer using the appropriate case law and Supreme Court precedents.

The constitutional amendment that would govern Officer Jones ’actions would be the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. [Legal Information Institute, 2015] The law states that no rights shall be violated and no warrants shall be issued without the proper use of probable cause which must be supported by an Oath of Affirmation and must describe in its entirety the place for which shall be searched and the persons or things for which shall be seized. [Legal Information Institute, 2015] In my opinion, I support Officer Jones’s actions in conducting a search to only find drugs that validated the accusations conveyed to him by an anonymous caller. This officer was able to establish probable cause because he was able to point to circumstances that led him to believe that a suspect committed a particular crime, which in this case was selling drugs. Although the officer didn’t catch him in the act of selling, he still had the drugs on him, which is illegal. Probable cause may exist at the time that an arrest is being made, even if the defendant didn’t do anything wrong. Using the proper case law, probable cause is shown if a man of ordinary care or caution and prudence would be led to believe and conscientiously entertain an honest and strong suspicion that the accused is guilty. [Standard of Proof; Probable cause, 2015] Probable cause existed because of the totality of the circumstances known to the arresting officer. In Illinois v. Gates 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court, adopted the totality of the circumstances test for probable cause determination.

Analyze the validity and constitutionality of Officer Jones’ actions.

Officer Jones’ actions were valid and constitutional. Officer Jones did not go off of a hunch but merely taking information from a prudent person that concluded that there was a fair probability that the individual had indeed committed a crime of selling drugs. In regard to the validity and constitutionality of Officer Jones’s actions, his using probable cause was a result of the requirement that the facts and circumstances within his knowledge of having reasonably trustworthy information, was from a prudent source that conveyed the acts of an individual who was committing a felony. [Standard of Proof; Probable cause, 2015]The Fourth Amendment states that a police officer may not seize an individual or his or her property unless the officer has a belief rising to the level of probable cause that an individual has committed a crime [Criminal Find Law, 2015] and when Officer Jones received the anonymous call about an individual committing a crime of selling drugs, this validated his lawful search and the arrest of the individual who had drugs on him at the time.

 Determine whether or not Officer Jones’ actions were justified by any of the three (3) ways whereby probable cause can be established. 

Probable cause can be established by information plus corroboration, information given by a reliable third person and an officers own knowledge of particular facts and circumstances. Officer Jones’ actions were justified by the information given by a reliable third person. An officer can use probable cause with his own knowledge of particular facts and circumstances by accepting information plus corroboration given to him by a third party source or person. [Probable Cause, Law Justia]

References

Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, An Overview. Legal Information Institute. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu, on June 8, 2015.

Search and Seizure and the Fourth Amendment. 2015. Retrieved fromhttp://www.criminal.findlaw.com, on June 8, 2015.

Probable Cause: The Fourth Amendment. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.law.justia.com on July 8, 2015.

Standard of Proof; Probable Cause. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.legalupdateonline.com on July 8, 2015