Instructions Each case brief will be completed in the same format. Court cases are discussed throughout the textbook. Choose a court case (i.e. Miranda v.

Instructions
Each case brief will be completed in the same format. Court cases are discussed throughout
the textbook. Choose a court case (i.e. Miranda v. Arizona) you are interested in researching.
Find and read the court case. You may use a court case discussed in the textbook, or you may
use the media tools listed below to find it. After you have chosen your case, read How to Brief a
Case in Chapter 1 on pages 27 – 29 and turn it in before the assigned due date. Use the format
provided in the textbook to complete each case brief.Media Tools
1. “US Supreme Court website” – www.supremecourt.gov
2. “Findlaw Legal Information website” – www.findlaw.com I want this case: BOYKIN V. ALABAMA (1969) Criminal Evidence and Procedure
(Spring 2019)
Case Brief Assignments
There are 8 case briefs, worth up to 25 points each, due throughout the semester. 4 briefs will
be completed in class and 4 will be competed outside of class. Please refer to the syllabus or
contact me if you have questions about plagiarism. All Due dates are on the syllabus/outline.
Instructions
Each case brief will be completed in the same format. Court cases are discussed throughout
the textbook. Choose a court case (i.e. Miranda v. Arizona) you are interested in researching.
Find and read the court case. You may use a court case discussed in the textbook, or you may
use the media tools listed below to find it. After you have chosen your case, read How to Brief a
Case in Chapter 1 on pages 27 – 29 and turn it in before the assigned due date. Use the format
provided in the textbook to complete each case brief. Each case brief must be completed in
the format outlined in the textbook. Any other format will not be accepted. You will
ultimately choose a total of 8 cases to research and read. Please type your name in the upper
left corner of your assignment.
Media Tools
1.
2.
3.
4.
“US Supreme Court website” – www.supremecourt.gov
“Findlaw Legal Information website” – www.findlaw.com
ASU Library – http://www.astate.edu/a/library/index.dot
State run websites dedicated to cases that originated from that state.
Due dates are on the outline inside the syllabus.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
7. Holding: A frisk that goes beyond the scope allowed in Terry v. Ohio in stop and
frisk cases is not valid. In this case, the search went beyond the pat-down search
allowed by Terry because the officer “squeezed, slid, and otherwise manipulated
the packet’s content” before determining it was cocaine. The evidence obtained is
not admissible in court.
Note: State in brief, exact, clear language what the Court said. In some cases, the
holding may be taken verbatim from the case itself, usually toward the end. The hold-
ing is the most important element of the case because it states the rule announced by
the Court. The holding becomes precedent, which means the same rule is applicable to
future similar cases to be decided by the courts.
8. Case significance: This case is important because it sets the limits of how the police
can frisk in stop and frisk cases. Here the officer went beyond merely patting down
the suspect for a weapon. Instead, the officer squeeze, slid, and manipulated the
item after feeling it. Only then did he realize it could be drugs. Doing that without
probable cause went beyond what is allowed by as part of a frisk.
Note: This part of a case brief can be optional and is written primarily for the ben-
efit of the student so he or she can evaluate the importance of the case. Some profes-
sors, however, require it as part of the case brief. Case significance generally indicates
whether the case is important or not in the context of a topic. Some cases, such as
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), and Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), are obvi-
ously important in that their impact is widespread and immediate. Others, however,
are not as obvious in importance and thus are left to the judgment of the case brief
writer. Some might consider a case significant, others may not.
M
SUMMARY
The United States has a dual court system, meaning
it has two levels of courts-federal and state.
Where a criminal case is to be tried is determined
by this rule: If an act violates federal law, it is
tried in federal court; if it violates state law, it is
tried in state court. If an act violates both federal
and state laws, it can be tried in both courts.
Judicial precedent means that decisions of courts
have value as precedent for future cases similarly
circumstanced.
Jurisdiction is the power of a court to try a case;
venue is the place where the case is tried.
Judicial review is the power of any court to hold
unconstitutional and hence unenforceable any
law, any official action based on a law, or any
other action by a public official
be in conflict with the Constitut
Rule of law generally means that no
the law, and that every person, fr
powerful public official down to
individual, is subject to the law a
accountable in court for what he
The incorporation controversy is abou
the Bill of Rights protects agains
rights by the federal governmen
limits actions of state and local g
officials. The four approaches to
are selective incorporation, total
total incorporation plus, and the
approach
The Court System, Sources of Rights, and Fundame
form to facilitate learning.
To familiarize readers with the basics of ca
sented in this section. There is no agreement ar
briefed for instructional purposes. The element
preferences of the instructor or student doing th
is as simple as it gets. Some briefs are more com
curring opinions (if any), comments, case excerp
student might deem necessary.
The basic elements of a simple case brief are
1. Case title
2. Citation
3. Year decided
4. Facts
5. Issue or issues
6. Court decision
7. Holding
8. Case significance
The case of Minnesota v. Dickerson could be briefed
son, read the original version of this case on the
v. Dickerson.”)
1. Case title: Minnesota v. Dickerson
2. Citation: 508 U.S. 366
3. Year decided: 1993
Note: In your brief, the above elements go in this order: Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508
U.S. 366 (1993). This means that the case of Minnesota v. Dickerson is found in volume
508 of the United States Reports, starting on page 366, and was decided in 1993.
4. Facts: During routine patrol, two police officers spotted Dickerson leaving an
apartment building that one of the officers knew was a crack house. Dicker-
son began walking toward the police but, upon making eye contact with them,
reversed direction and walked into an alley. Because of his evasive actions, the
police became suspicious and decided to investigate. They pulled their vehicle
into the alley and ordered Dickerson to stop and submit to a pat-down search.
The search revealed no weapons, but one officer felt a small lump in Dickerson’s
pocket, thoroughly examined it with his fingers, and subsequently determined
that it felt like a lump of cocaine in cellophane. The officer then reached into
Dickerson’s pocket and pulled out the lump, which turned out to be a small
plastic bag containing crack cocaine. Dickerson was arrested and charged with
possession of a controlled substance.
Note: The facts section can be too detailed or too sketchy, both of which can be
misleading. In general, be guided by this question: Which minimum facts must be
included in your brief so that somebody who has not read the whole case (as you have)
will nonetheless understand it? The amount of detail required is for you to decide-
you must determine the facts that are important or unimportant. Keep the important;
weed out the unimportant.
5. Issue or issues: Was the seizure of the crack cocaine valid under stop and
frisk? No.
Note: The issue statement should always be in question form, as it is here. The
issue statement should not be so broad as to apply to every case even remotely similar
in facts, nor so narrow as to apply only to the particular facts of that case. Here are
some examples: Are police seizures without probable cause valid? (Too broad.) Is police
seizure of something that feels like a lump in a suspect’s pocket valid? (Too narrow.)
Was the seizure of the crack cocaine valid under stop and frisk? (Just right.) Some cases
have more than one issue. If these issues cannot be merged, they must be stated as
separate issues.
6. Court decision: The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Minnesota
Supreme Court that held the seizure to be invalid.
Note: The Supreme Court decision answers two questions: (1) Did the Court
affirm, reverse, or modify the decision of the immediate lower court (in this case,
the Minnesota Supreme Court); and (2) what happened to the case? Sometimes stu-
dents confuse the Court decision with the holding (see item 7). The difference is that
the Court decision is a brief statement that tells you what happened to the case on
appeal and what the Court said is to be done with it. In this briefed case, the case
ends because the lower court decision was affirmed. It would have been different
had the Court ordered that the case be “reversed and remanded.” The case would
then have gone back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of the Supreme
Court’s ruling
THE TOP 5 IMPORTANT CASES
in Overview of the Criminal Justice Process
DUNCAN V. LOUISIANA (1968) The function of a jury is
to “guard against the exercise of arbitrary power.”
BOYKIN V. ALABAMA (1969) When a defendant pleads
guilty, the record must show affirmatively that the plea was
voluntary and that the accused had a full understanding of its
consequences. Otherwise, the plea is invalid.
SANTOBELLO V NEW YORK (1971) Once the trial court
accepts a guilty plea entered in accordance with a plea bargain,
the defendant has a right to have the plea bargain enforced.
Therefore, the judge must decide either to enforce the agreement
or to allow the defendant to withdraw the guilty plea.
NORTH CAROLINA V. ALFORD (1979) A guilty plea is
not invalid simply because the defendant does not admit guilt or
even continues to assert innocence, provided that there is some
basis in the record for the plea. All that is required for a valid
guilty plea is a knowing waiver of the rights involved, not an
admission of guilt.
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE V MCLAUGHLIN (1991)
Detention of a suspect for forty-eight hours without a probable
cause hearing is presumptively reasonable. If the time to the
hearing is longer than that, the burden of proof shifts to the
police to prove reasonableness. But if the time to the hearing is
shorter, the burden of proof to establish unreasonable delay rests
on the person detained.
RIMINAL PROCEDURE can be defined as the process followed by the polic
Ccourts in the apprehension and punishment of criminalowe ony the police
plaint by a member of the public or the arrest of a suspect by the police, up to
the defendant is punished, if convicted. Criminal procedure highlights the se
difficult conflict between the constitutional rights of a suspect or defendan
power of government to maintain peace and order and ensure public safety-
That conflict must be resolved through prescribed rules; criminal pro
those rules. Although sometimes offered as one course in law schools, crimin
darribes the process

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