UT Bar Criminal Procedure 2

Question 1

Police stop a driver for a broken taillight and, while writing the citation, a K-9 unit arrives and conducts a dog sniff that prolongs the stop by ten minutes. Absent reasonable suspicion of drug activity, the sniff is:

Accepted Answer

Unconstitutional, because extending a traffic stop to conduct a dog sniff requires independent reasonable suspicion

Answer

Under Rodriguez v. United States, police may not prolong a traffic stop beyond the time needed for its mission to conduct a dog sniff without independent reasonable suspicion.

Question 2

A suspect in custody says, 'Maybe I should talk to a lawyer.' Police continue questioning and obtain a confession. Under Davis v. United States, the confession is:

Accepted Answer

Admissible, because the suspect's ambiguous statement was not an unequivocal invocation of the right to counsel

Answer

Davis holds that questioning need not stop unless the suspect unambiguously requests counsel, and 'maybe I should talk to a lawyer' is ambiguous.

Question 3

Officers execute a valid warrant to search a house for a stolen 60-inch television. During the search, an officer opens a small jewelry box and finds cocaine. The cocaine is:

Accepted Answer

Inadmissible, because a 60-inch television could not fit inside a jewelry box, so the search exceeded the warrant's scope

Answer

A warrant search is limited to places where the named item could reasonably be found, and a large television cannot fit in a jewelry box.

Question 4

A defendant is arrested and detained without a warrant. Under County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, a judicial probable cause determination is presumptively prompt if provided within:

Accepted Answer

48 hours of arrest

Answer

McLaughlin held that a probable cause determination within 48 hours of a warrantless arrest is presumptively reasonable under Gerstein v. Pugh.

Question 5

During plea negotiations, defense counsel fails to inform the defendant of a favorable plea offer, which then expires; the defendant is later convicted at trial and receives a harsher sentence. Under Missouri v. Frye, the defendant:

Accepted Answer

May claim ineffective assistance of counsel, because counsel must communicate formal plea offers to the defendant

Answer

Frye held that defense counsel's failure to communicate a formal, favorable plea offer can constitute deficient performance under Strickland.

(UT Bar) Utah Bar Exam Practice Test

(UT Bar) Utah Bar Exam Practice Test

UT Bar Criminal Procedure 2