Criminal Law Cases

Imagine yourself in a variety of criminal justice practitioner roles. You will be presented with a series of case scenarios and will be required to address each of them by utilizing case law research. You will then have to make decisions based on your findings, evidence, and any procedural knowledge you have obtained throughout the course. Your submission should be 4 to 6 pages in length. The document should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Citations should be listed in APA format. Be sure to label each section appropriately (Miranda, Jewelry Store Robbery, etc.) when compiling your portfolio. Jewelry Store Robbery A detective was conducting surveillance outside a jewelry store that had been robbed several times in the past month. It was 85°F outside, and he witnessed three men pacing in front of the store who appeared to be acting nervous. One of the men was wearing a heavy sweatshirt (later identified as Wilson), while the others were wearing t-shirts. The detective exited his cruiser and approached the three men. The detective conducted a pat frisk of Wilson and found a hard object in the front pocket of the sweatshirt. He reached his hand into the pocket and located a handgun. He placed all three under arrest and later tied all of them to the repeat burglaries. In court, Wilson’s attorney argued that the detective conducted an illegal search when he located the handgun. Imagine yourself now as the judge. A. In order to avoid defense attorneys making this kind of claim in court, new technology could be utilized to aid in the development of cases and in prosecutions. What types of new technology could the detective have employed in his surveillance and arrest that might have helped avoid the defense attorney’s claim of illegal search? Evaluate the impact these types of technology have had on ethical investigations. B. Based on the U.S. Supreme Court case Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), how would you rule in this case? Be sure to defend your ruling with evidentiary support. C. Did the ruling justices’ decision in Terry v. Ohio influence the effective performance of law-enforcement agencies? Defend your position using evidence from the current case as well as the Supreme Court case. Rape Investigation You are now a detective assigned to conduct a rape investigation. A. Select an emerging technology available for investigating rape-related crimes. How has this technology positively or negatively impacted criminal investigations? Support your argument(s) using specific examples. B. Taking into consideration U.S. Supreme Court rulings, what are any limitations or regulations you may encounter in utilizing this technology to conduct an ethical investigation? Pre-Sentence Investigation A 14-year-old juvenile was just convicted of murder, and sentencing is approaching. Imagine yourself as a probation officer assigned to conduct the presentence investigation. Research Miller v. Alabama and use it to guide you on how you would approach this case. A. Based on Miller v. Alabama, what are the constitutional constraints placed upon the judge to come to an ethical and proper sentence in the current case? B. How did the Miller v. Alabama case transform sentencing laws and impact the role of the criminal justice practitioner? Support your response with examples. Defense Attorney You are a defense attorney. You have a client who is charged with raping and killing four boys. After killing them, he dismembered them and ate them. Your client thinks he did nothing wrong. A. Based on the client’s mental state, what would you argue for a defense for the client? Ensure that you apply and explain any relevant sociological and criminological scientific methods of inquiry you would use in devising your argument. Narcotics Detective Imagine yourself as a narcotics detective. You are told by an informant that a man by the name of Joe Parker is growing marijuana in his basement. He goes on to tell you that the basement has windows, but they appear to be blacked out, preventing anyone from seeing inside. As a knowledgeable narcotics detective, you know that extreme heat is used to keep the marijuana plants healthy. You decide to use a thermal imaging device to see if there is excessive heat coming from the basement. You park in front of his house and turn on the device. It registers extreme levels of heat emanating from the basement. Based on that information, you obtain a search warrant and locate the marijuana. In preparing your paperwork, it is brought to your attention that these events are identical to an actual U.S. Supreme Court case. Research Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001), to guide how you would approach this case. A. What elements from Kyllo v. United States will impact your ability to develop an ethical investigation? Be sure to explain your response. B. Examine how the use of thermal imaging technology has impacted detectives, both positively and negatively, in performing ethical investigations in drug-related cases? C. If you were the judge in the Kyllo case, what would be the constitutional parameters that would influence how you would rule? Why would these influence your ruling? Homicide Detective A detective investigating a recent homicide has obtained a mobile scanner device called a Manta Ray, which allows him to sit in his vehicle and “capture” conversations and data from mobile phones by mimicking a cellular tower. After two days of surveillance on an apartment complex that he believes houses the man who committed the murder, the device grabs pieces of a text conversation between the suspect and his girlfriend. The detective believes the conversation was a vague confession to the crime and decides it is enough to obtain a court order. A. Was the use of the Manta Ray in this investigation done ethically, and how will this potentially impact the development of this case? Consider supporting your response with relevant case law and precedent.