Criminal Procedure
~~Fourth Amendment~~
A. Definition
a. “The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and
b. No Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
i. 4th Amendment applies to both property and persons
ii. ¡OJO! Most 4th Amendment problems relate to constitutional legality of searches, not arrests.
B. Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Doctrine (Katz)
a. In 1967 Supreme Court rejected the traditional notion that only private property could be protected by 4th Amendment
b. Court indicated that 4th Amendment applies to any governmental search or seizure that interferes with a persons “reasonable expectation of privacy,” even if there was NO interference with property.
i. What a person seeks to preserve as private, even in a public area, is protected under 4th Amendment.
c. If there is some reasonable expectation of privacy, then you need to get a warrant.
i. ¡OJO! The 4th Amendment protects people! Not places!
C. Voluntary Disclosure to a Bugged or an Un-bugged Informant (White)
a. When a person misplaces his trust, and makes incriminating statements to an unbugged (or bugged) informer, he has NO JUSTIFIABLE expectation of privacy which has been violated.
b. There is no 4th Amendment protection for a “wrongdoer’s misplaced belief that a person to whom he voluntarily confides his wrongdoing will not reveal it.
D. Transfer to Third Person
a. The fact that the D has transferred property or information to a 3rd person may indicate that he no longer has a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to that property.
b. Pen Register
i. One who uses a phone, even in his own home, has no justifiable expectation of privacy with respect to the numbers being called.
ii. Ex. Police and phone company installed a pen register, in the phone company offices, the register recor
ns talking illegal gambling, cops tap phone and hear all with no warrant)
Facts: FBI agents placed electronic eavesdropping equipment on the outside of a public telephone booth from which Katz, a bookmaker, conducted his business.
Issue: Whether the FBI violated the dudes 4th Amendment rights by tapping the public phone without a warrant?
Rule: If there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, then it is protected and a warrant is necessary.
Rule: If there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, then you need to get a warrant.
Reasoning: Here the man entered a public place. He walked into the phone booth and closed the door behind him, displaying an expectation of privacy. A person can, through their own efforts, create a situation where I want privacy.
US v. White—(Dude voluntarily gives info about narcotics deal, informant is bugged)
Facts: An informer was wired to transmit to narcotics agents conversations with the defendant occurring in a restaurant, in the defendant’s home, and in the informer’s car. The
