Criminal Procedure: Investigation

3 units

This course is a study of the constitutional constraints on criminal investigation. Under what circumstances are police permitted to stop you on the street, fish in your pockets, or open your wallet and remove its contents? What legal rules govern jailhouse interrogations? At what point in a criminal investigation does the right to confer with counsel attach? In surveying the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their interpretation in Supreme Court jurisprudence, we will consider answers to each of these questions. Upon completion of the course, students will understand how the Constitution and related case law govern the opening stages of the criminal process. 3 units.