CRMJ 2280 Criminal Procedure

This course will explore individual rights protected under the U.S. Constitution which are routinely at issue in the investigatory, arrest, trial, and sentencing phases of a criminal procedure. This course will address the conflict and tension that exists when needing to protect individual rights while also needing to maintain order and enforce criminal laws. These tensions and legal conflicts are routinely resolved in the arena of the criminal court system and through the application of the law of criminal procedure. The student will evaluate probable cause and reasonable doubt, the laws of arrest, search and seizure, interrogation and confessions, pre-trial identification, and the exclusionary rule. (3 lect.)

Credits

3 credits

Major Topics

• Sources, history, and competing goals underlying criminal procedure
• Individual rights protected by the U.S. Constitution, including the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments
• The Fourth Amendment and its application to various searches and seizures
• Constitutional laws addressing arrest, search and seizure, interrogations, interviews, confessions, identifications, and related topics
• Mechanisms created by legislatures and courts to insure proper constitutional behaviors

Outcomes

In order to successfully complete this course, the student will:

1. Explore the historical context and sources of the laws of criminal procedure and the court structures in which those laws apply.

2. Examine the Fourth Amendment as it applies to stop and frisk, searches and seizures of persons, places and things, and arrests.

3. Explore constitutional rights as they apply to interrogations and pre-trial identification processes.

4. Explain the basic constitutional rights of and protections for the accused from the investigation through trial and sentencing.

5. Examine the exclusionary rule and civil liability as potential consequences of implicating the rights of the accused during the criminal process and proceedings, and the potential impact of these consequences on the criminal justice system and its function in society.

Other Information

Any information placed here must be adhered to by all instructors: