Criminal Procedure Flashcards

Police obtain 127 days of a suspect's historical cell-site location records from his carrier without a warrant. Under Carpenter v. United States, the records are:

Answer: Obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, because accessing extended historical CSLI is a search requiring a warrant

Carpenter held that acquiring seven or more days of historical cell-site location information is a search generally requiring a warrant.

A defendant wants to represent himself at trial. The judge finds he is competent to stand trial and his waiver of counsel is knowing and voluntary, but denies the request because self-representation is unwise. Under Faretta v. California, the denial is:

Answer: Error, because a competent defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to knowingly and voluntarily waive counsel and proceed pro se

Faretta guarantees a competent defendant the right to self-representation upon a knowing and voluntary waiver of counsel.

Eight months of the delay between a defendant's arrest and trial resulted from the prosecution's negligence in locating a witness; the defendant repeatedly demanded trial and lost a key alibi witness in the interim. Under Barker v. Wingo, the court should:

Answer: Weigh the length, reason, assertion, and prejudice factors, which here favor dismissal on speedy trial grounds

Barker's four-factor balancing test weighs delay, its cause, the defendant's assertion of the right, and prejudice, all of which cut against the state here.

During jury selection, the prosecutor uses peremptory strikes to remove all Black venire members, and the defense objects. Once the defense makes a prima facie showing under Batson, the prosecutor must:

Answer: Offer a race-neutral explanation for the strikes, which the court then evaluates for pretext

Batson's second step requires a race-neutral explanation, after which the court decides at step three whether the objector proved purposeful discrimination.

A parolee's home is searched by his parole officer without a warrant pursuant to a state law requiring parolees to submit to suspicionless searches as a condition of release. Under Samson v. California, the search is:

Answer: Reasonable, because parolees have severely diminished privacy expectations and the state's supervisory interests are substantial

Samson upheld suspicionless searches of parolees who accept such conditions, given their diminished expectation of privacy.

A defendant pleads guilty in Oklahoma and later wants to appeal the conviction. To challenge the plea, he must first:

Answer: File an application to withdraw the plea within ten days and, if denied, seek a writ of certiorari from the Court of Criminal Appeals

Oklahoma requires a timely motion to withdraw the plea within ten days as a prerequisite to certiorari review of a guilty plea.

Police arrest a driver for driving with a suspended license, secure him in the patrol car, and then search the passenger compartment of his car. Under Arizona v. Gant, the search is:

Answer: Unlawful, because the arrestee could not access the car and no evidence of the offense of arrest could be found inside

Gant limits vehicle searches incident to arrest to when the arrestee can access the car or it may contain evidence of the offense of arrest.