Criminal Procedure and the Supreme Court

In any episode of the popular television show Law and Order, questions of police procedure in collecting evidence often arise. Was a search legal? Was the evidence obtained lawfully? Did the police follow the rules in pursuing their case? While the show depicts fictional cases and scenarios, police procedure with regard to search and seizure is a real and significant issue in the criminal justice system today. The subject of many Supreme Court decisions, they seriously impact the way police pursue their investigations, the way prosecutors proceed with their cases, and the way defense attorneys defend their clients. This book answers these questions and explains these decisions in accessible and easy to follow language. Each chapter explores a separate case or series of cases involving the application of the Fourth Amendment to current police investigatory practices or prosecutorial conduct of the criminal trial. The police-related cases involve topics such as searches of suspects (both prior and incident to arrest), pretext stops, the knock-and-announce rule, interrogation procedures, and the parameters of an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy. The prosecutor-related cases involve topics such as jury selection, the right to counsel, and sentencing. This important overview serves as an introduction to the realities and practicalities of police investigation and the functioning of the criminal justice system when search and seizure becomes an issue.

Rolando V. del Carmen is Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice (Law) and Regents Professor in the College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University. He has written many books and numerous articles in law and criminal justice. His book, Criminal Procedure: Law and Practice, has been translated into various languages and widely used in criminal justice programs. His other books include: The Death Penalty: Constitutional Issues, Commentaries and Case Briefs (with colleagues), Juvenile Justice: The System, Process, and Law (with Chad Trulson); Civil Liabilities in American Policing, and Community-Based Corrections (with Leanne Fiftal Alarid & Paul Cromwell). He is the recipient of three awards from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences: The Academy Fellow Award (1990), the Bruce Smith Award (1997); and the Founder's Award (2005).

Craig Hemmens is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Boise State University. He holds a J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University. Professor Hemmens has published more than seventeen books and one hundred articles on a variety of criminal justice-related topics. His primary research interests are criminal law and procedure. He has served as the editor of the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. His publications have appeared in Justice Quarterly, the Journal of Criminal Justice, Crime and Delinquency, the Criminal Law Bulletin, and the Prison Journal.