Exam 12: Field Interviews, Arrests and Jail Searches

If an officer legally stops a vehicle based on reasonable suspicion, the officer may:

Lonnie was riding his bike through a residential neighborhood. He failed to stop for a stop sign and barely avoided a collision with a car. Officer Mertz stopped Lonnie with the intent to warn him that he had violated a section in the Vehicle Code that applies to bicyclists. Once Officer Mertz got out of her car, she smelled a strong odor of marijuana. She asked Lonnie if he had been smoking marijuana. He said yes. She ordered Lonnie to put his hands on the patrol car and patted him down. She found a switchblade knife in his pants pocket. After she found the switchblade, she arrested him and did a thorough search of Lonnie and his fanny pack. She found a bag containing approximately 50 grams of cocaine in the fanny pack. Did Officer Mertz have the right to stop Lonnie?

A detention based on Terry v. Ohio may never last more than 20 minutes.

Jack was hanging out in a gang-infested neighborhood. Officer Knight watched Jack walk up to a car in the parking lot of a fast-food place. From where Officer Knight's police car was located about 50 feet away, it looked like Jack had started an argument with the driver of the car. Officer Knight exited his car and walked rapidly toward Jack. When he was 10 feet away, he yelled at Jack to step back from the car and put his hands up. Jack took one look at Officer Knight and ran the other direction. Officer Knight saw an unidentified object in Jack's hand that he thought might be used as a weapon, so he fired two shots. One shot missed but the other struck Jack in the leg. Immediately after arriving at the spot where Jack fell, Officer Knight searched him and found 3 baggies of marijuana in his pocket. Did Officer Knight have the right to fire 2 shots at Jack?

A police officer may detain someone for questioning when there are insufficient facts to justify an arrest and the person does not want to cooperate:

A "citizen's arrest" can be made by anyone who observed a misdemeanor being committed.

The Supreme Court held that officers may conduct strip searches whenever someone is being booked for a felony.

When a police officer detains someone for questioning based on reasonable suspicion:

Was the seizure of the cocaine legal?

At the time of a custodial arrest, officers may conduct a thorough search of the person being arrested and the area under his/her immediate control.

Police officers may use force only if it is reasonable based on how the circumstances would appear to a reasonable person.

The right to use force is based on a "reasonable person." The reasonable person is:

When an officer arrests a person who is a passenger in a car, the officer may search the vehicle as part of the search incident to the arrest:

If a police officer has reasonable suspicion to stop someone, the officer automatically has the authority to search that person for weapons.

An officer arrested Tim for disorderly conduct (a misdemeanor) because he was picketing in front of the town's only grocery store and blocking the entrance. No one suspected Tim had a gun. The officer wants to do a search incident to arrest before placing Tim in the patrol car and taking him to jail. Which of the following is true regarding this situation?

If a person is detained based on reasonable suspicion, officers may take the person to the police station for fingerprinting.

Nancy called 911 late one night and stated that there was a man in her backyard looking in her daughter's window. She was unable to give a description of the man. Officer Oliver arrived at the scene 10 minutes later. He went into the back yard and observed Pat standing about 15 feet from the house. He arrested Pat for violation of a penal code section that applies to voyeurism, a misdemeanor. Pat was transported to the city jail. Officer Randall, the booking officer, searched the backpack that Pat was carrying and found a magazine containing child pornography. Assuming for this question that there was probable cause for the arrest: Did Officer Oliver have authority to arrest Pat without a warrant if the state where these events occurred followed the traditional rules regarding misdemeanor arrests?

The shock the conscience test established in Rochin v. California is no longer applied to police conduct.

The information that an officer relies upon to make a stop based on Terry v. Ohio :

Assume that an officer has sufficient facts to legally justify a search during a detention based on Terry v. Ohio . What restrictions are placed on the search?