JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW: Exam #2 -- Part 2 (open book)
NAME: ___________________________________
ALL ANSWERS SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN THE JOURNAL, with complete sentences and paragraphs.
1. The Maine State Police receive an anonymous tip that Vera Stone is growing marijuana somewhere on her property.
Can the police get a search warrant based upon this information? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
2. A police helicopter used for monitoring highway traffic during rush hour flies over property owned by Hi A. Kite while on the way to Interstate 95. One of the police officers in the copter notices a ramshackle old greenhouse on Kite's property and is able to see dozens of marijuana plants. The helicopter lands, and the plants are seized.
Is this a legal seizure? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
3. Tippecanoe, Tennessee, County School District establishes a random urinalysis program designed to discourage substance abuse by student athletes. All sports participants are required to sign a consent form that includes an agreement to submit to urinalysis on random basis. 16-year-old Jock Strap, the goalie on the high school varsity soccer team, fails a random test. Based upon the failed test, without a search warrant, school authorities search Jock's locker and find hypodermic needles. The police arrive and they conduct a strip search on Jock. They find no drugs, but do find several injection bruises on his thighs and buttocks. The police then obtain a search warrant and based upon the warrant and without the consent of Jock or his parents, take a blood sample, which reveals the presence of illegal drugs.
(a) Is the the random urinalysis testing of Jock a valid search? Why of why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(b) Assuming the random test is valid, is the search of Jock's locker valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(c) Assuming the locker search is valid, is the strip search of Jock valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
4. Barry Shy is a 15-year-old hip hop fan. While attending a concert at the Portland Civic Center, he passes two policemen who are providing security at the concert. The police had received a tip from a reliable source that drugs would be smuggled into the concert and sold to members of the audience, but no information as to who would be carrying the drugs. One of the police officer notices that Barry looks nervous and asks him to stop. When questioned, the boy begins to perspire, stutters, and seems to be avoiding eye contact. The police then take Barry into a private room and perform a "pat down" search, reach into his pocket, and pull out a single baggy with two marijuana joints in it. At this point the police perform a strip search and find a large amount of money and a note with an address on it that corresponds to a warehouse suspected to be a drug distribution center. Barry is then arrested.
(a) Can the police stop Barry and question him? Why of why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(b) Assuming the initial questioning is valid, is the seizure of marijuana based upon the pat down search valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(c) Assuming the seizure of the marijuana is valid, is the standard for performing a strip search on Barry "reasonable suspicion" or "probable cause"? Explain your conclusion. {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(d) Assuming the strip search is valid, is the arrest of Barry based upon probable cause valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(e) At what point in this process was Barry "in custody"? Explain. {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
5. A 12-year-old girl is assaulted and raped on the grounds of the Trenton Middle School while on the way home from school. She is not able to give much of a description of the assailants as they were wearing Halloween masks, but says the assailants' voices and size led her to believe they were middle school age, and she did notice that one of them had a "Trenton Middle School" jacket on. She also says she fought back and is sure she scratched one of the assailants on his thigh and the other on his upper arm. The next morning, the police go to the Trenton Middle School and, aware thatthe students are required to shower after phys ed classes, request the boys' phys ed teacher inform them if he notices any students with fresh scratches or bruises anywhere on their bodies. During the lunch period, the phys ed instructor informs the police that one boy in the third period class had two fresh, deep scratches on his right thigh. The boy is summoned to the principal's office. When confronted with the victim's statement and the phys ed teacher's observation, he immediately admits involvement and implicates another boy as the other assailant. The other boy is then summoned and told to remove his shirt. The boy does so, revealing fresh scratches on his upper left arm.
(a) Could a police officer, based upon the girl's statement, enter and stay in the boys' locker room, looking for evidence of fresh scratches on boys in the phys ed classes? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(b) Does the phys ed teacher become an "agent" of the police when he is asked to keep his eyes open for any evidence of fresh scratches on the students? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(c) Assuming the phys ed teacher is not a police agent, is his statement concerning scratches the result of a search and, if so, is it a valid search? Explain. {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(d) Assume the teacher's observations would not be admissible in court against the first boy, can the police still call the second boy into the principal's office based upon the first boy's statement and order him to remove his shirt? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(e) Assume that the girl had heard one of the assailants address the other as "Ryan" but she did NOT see a jacket with "Trenton Middle School" on it. Could the police call in, one by one, every boy named "Ryan" at the middle school and ask questions? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(f) Assuming the same facts as in (e), could the police conduct a strip search on each boy named "Ryan", looking for scratches? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
ALL ANSWERS SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN THE JOURNAL, with complete sentences and paragraphs.
1. The Maine State Police receive an anonymous tip that Vera Stone is growing marijuana somewhere on her property.
Can the police get a search warrant based upon this information? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
2. A police helicopter used for monitoring highway traffic during rush hour flies over property owned by Hi A. Kite while on the way to Interstate 95. One of the police officers in the copter notices a ramshackle old greenhouse on Kite's property and is able to see dozens of marijuana plants. The helicopter lands, and the plants are seized.
Is this a legal seizure? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
3. Tippecanoe, Tennessee, County School District establishes a random urinalysis program designed to discourage substance abuse by student athletes. All sports participants are required to sign a consent form that includes an agreement to submit to urinalysis on random basis. 16-year-old Jock Strap, the goalie on the high school varsity soccer team, fails a random test. Based upon the failed test, without a search warrant, school authorities search Jock's locker and find hypodermic needles. The police arrive and they conduct a strip search on Jock. They find no drugs, but do find several injection bruises on his thighs and buttocks. The police then obtain a search warrant and based upon the warrant and without the consent of Jock or his parents, take a blood sample, which reveals the presence of illegal drugs.
(a) Is the the random urinalysis testing of Jock a valid search? Why of why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(b) Assuming the random test is valid, is the search of Jock's locker valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(c) Assuming the locker search is valid, is the strip search of Jock valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
4. Barry Shy is a 15-year-old hip hop fan. While attending a concert at the Portland Civic Center, he passes two policemen who are providing security at the concert. The police had received a tip from a reliable source that drugs would be smuggled into the concert and sold to members of the audience, but no information as to who would be carrying the drugs. One of the police officer notices that Barry looks nervous and asks him to stop. When questioned, the boy begins to perspire, stutters, and seems to be avoiding eye contact. The police then take Barry into a private room and perform a "pat down" search, reach into his pocket, and pull out a single baggy with two marijuana joints in it. At this point the police perform a strip search and find a large amount of money and a note with an address on it that corresponds to a warehouse suspected to be a drug distribution center. Barry is then arrested.
(a) Can the police stop Barry and question him? Why of why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(b) Assuming the initial questioning is valid, is the seizure of marijuana based upon the pat down search valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(c) Assuming the seizure of the marijuana is valid, is the standard for performing a strip search on Barry "reasonable suspicion" or "probable cause"? Explain your conclusion. {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(d) Assuming the strip search is valid, is the arrest of Barry based upon probable cause valid? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(e) At what point in this process was Barry "in custody"? Explain. {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
5. A 12-year-old girl is assaulted and raped on the grounds of the Trenton Middle School while on the way home from school. She is not able to give much of a description of the assailants as they were wearing Halloween masks, but says the assailants' voices and size led her to believe they were middle school age, and she did notice that one of them had a "Trenton Middle School" jacket on. She also says she fought back and is sure she scratched one of the assailants on his thigh and the other on his upper arm. The next morning, the police go to the Trenton Middle School and, aware thatthe students are required to shower after phys ed classes, request the boys' phys ed teacher inform them if he notices any students with fresh scratches or bruises anywhere on their bodies. During the lunch period, the phys ed instructor informs the police that one boy in the third period class had two fresh, deep scratches on his right thigh. The boy is summoned to the principal's office. When confronted with the victim's statement and the phys ed teacher's observation, he immediately admits involvement and implicates another boy as the other assailant. The other boy is then summoned and told to remove his shirt. The boy does so, revealing fresh scratches on his upper left arm.
(a) Could a police officer, based upon the girl's statement, enter and stay in the boys' locker room, looking for evidence of fresh scratches on boys in the phys ed classes? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(b) Does the phys ed teacher become an "agent" of the police when he is asked to keep his eyes open for any evidence of fresh scratches on the students? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(c) Assuming the phys ed teacher is not a police agent, is his statement concerning scratches the result of a search and, if so, is it a valid search? Explain. {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(d) Assume the teacher's observations would not be admissible in court against the first boy, can the police still call the second boy into the principal's office based upon the first boy's statement and order him to remove his shirt? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(e) Assume that the girl had heard one of the assailants address the other as "Ryan" but she did NOT see a jacket with "Trenton Middle School" on it. Could the police call in, one by one, every boy named "Ryan" at the middle school and ask questions? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}
(f) Assuming the same facts as in (e), could the police conduct a strip search on each boy named "Ryan", looking for scratches? Why or why not? {Cite in your answer the relevant precedent case(s), if any}