Question 1. One night around midnight, while driving home from a birthday celebration at one of the downtown bars in Huntsville, you noticed that you were being followed by a police car for several blocks. Worried that you might have had a little too much to drink, you made a quick turn and tried to separate yourself from the police car. Based on this fact alone, the officer driving the police car immediately sped after you, turned on his flashing lights and siren, and pulled you over. From your reading of Illinois v. Wardlow, was the stop valid? Defend your answer.
Question 2. You are a university police officer. Jim, a student, has just parked his car in a university parking lot. Jim gets out of the car. You recognize Jim from a recently issued campus poster and immediately realize he is wanted for sexual assault. Jim is thirty yards away from his car. You arrest Jim, place handcuffs on him, and then search his car. During the search you recover a pound of marijuana and burglary tools in the car's passenger compartment. Are the marijuana and the burglary tools admissible in court? Explain your answer.
Question 3. Assume you are a police officer in the Boston Police Department. You are executing a search warrant issued by a judge. The warrant says you are to search the home of Jane, a high-profile suspect in various drug deals. Discuss the extent and scope of what you can search. Will you search Jane's living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and garage? Assume Jane has two vehicles parked in her covered garage. Can you also search those? Justify the scope of your search.
Question 4. Officer Frank arrested a suspect, observed driving on a city street, for robbery, based on a warrant. The driver and his car were brought to the police station, where the driver was booked and detained because he could not post bail. The day after the arrest, Officer Frank searched the vehicle without a warrant and found incriminating evidence that linked the suspect to the robbery. During trial, the suspect sought to exclude the evidence, saying it was obtained without a warrant and therefore the search was illegal. You are the judge. Will you admit or exclude the evidence? Justify your ruling.
Question 5. While on patrol, Wilma, a police officer, sees what she is certain are marijuana plants inside the fence of a local residence. She goes inside the fence and seizes the plants. Are the seized plants admissible in evidence during a criminal trial? Justify your answer.