1 Book Cover Here Chapter 15 CRIME AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW The Foundations of Criminal Investigation Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing

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Book CoverHere

Chapter 15

CRIME AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAWThe Foundations of Criminal Investigation

Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing the Past, 7th Edition

Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Crime Defined

An act committed or omitted in violation of law forbidding or commanding it, and for

which punishment is imposed upon conviction.


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Crime

• The legislature defines crime by enacting penal statutes that govern behavior for which punishment can be meted out– Behavior can be viewed as:

• Inherently bad • Against public policy

– Public perception of crime varies over time and across cultures. (i.e. Gambling, Prostitution, Abortion)


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Crime and Law• Criminal Law

– Substantive Criminal Law• The Elements of a Crime - Specific Behavior(s) • Corpus Delicti (Body of the Crime)

– Procedural Criminal Law (To obtain a conviction.)

• Case Law (Court Decisions) • The “Model” Penal Code • Sources of State Law: Statutes, Case Law.


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Substantive Criminal Law

• Describes the forbidden acts and the punishment to be inflicted when the law is broken

• Felonies– Crimes of more serious nature– Punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one

year.– Convicted felon is prohibited from holding public office or

engaging in a licensed occupations, possessing guns. • Misdemeanors

– Less serious – Imprisonment for less than a year or by a fine, or both


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Elements of a Crime• “Elements of the crime” describes the specific acts

that, taken together, compose the crime• If each and every element of a crime is not proved,

a defendant cannot be convicted for that crime• Corpus Delicti

– Each element of the crime is satisfied– Someone is responsible for inflicting the injury or loss that

was sustained• When the state has proved the corpus delicti beyond

a reasonable doubt, the prosecutor has met the burden of proof required for a jury (or judge) to convict.


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Procedural Criminal Law• Flows from the Constitutions of the United

States and the respective states.• Supreme Court interprets the U.S.

Constitution or exercises its supervisory power over the federal system of criminal justice.

• Bill of Rights: – Actions permitting or forbidding the government

in criminal matters are spelled out in the Fourth to Ninth Amendments.


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Model Penal Code• Proposed in 1962 by the American Law Institute (ALI)

in an effort to make criminal laws more uniform– Intended to bring a unified approach to criminal law

through an examination of its philosophical foundations, the elements that defined specific crimes, and the provisions for sentencing and correction

• Has not been widely accepted, though some aspects have found their way into the criminal law of some states.


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Theories on Crime• Classical School of

Thought• Psychological

Approaches• Attachment• Behavioral• Social Structure• Environmental• Strain/General Strain

• Culture Conflict• Social Process• Differential

Reinforcement• Social Control• Labeling• Life-Course• General Theory of Crime• Conflict


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Constitutional Law• Control Over Investigations (Limitations on

Govt.) – Criminal Justice in the Articles and Amendments– The Bill of Rights


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The Supreme Court and Criminal Justice

• Congress is given the power to define what the appellate jurisdiction or the court will be.– The legislative branch may increase or decrease this

function of the Court as it sees fit, however, it has been reluctant to do so.

– If the issue is one of interpretation: whether a law or procedure — either state or federal — is in accord with the Constitution, then the power of the Court is beyond the reach of the Congress

• Incorporating the Bill of Rights through the Fourteenth Amendment. (Applies to state agents.)


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The Bill of Rights

• The first 10 amendments were adopted in 1791. (Promised, in an effort to have the Constitution ratified.)

• Past Supreme Court decisions having the greatest influence on investigative practice are based on the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments.


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Milestone Decisions Affecting Investigative Practice

• Criminal law issues are decisions of two kinds:– Those unwittingly created by police behavior.– Those involving apparently new interpretations of

law or custom as urged by defendants through their attorneys.

• Rochin v. California (1952)• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)


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Evolution of “Probable Cause”• Statutory authority for police officers to make arrests

without a warrant is generally restricted to crimes committed in their presence, or to cases in which they have reasonable grounds for believing a person has committed (or is committing) a felony.

• Probable cause appears in the Fourth Amendment.• Crucial to law enforcement officers, this

constitutional imperative governs arrests or searches with or without warrants.


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Probable Cause Cases• Ker v. California (1963)• Locke v. United States (1813)• Stacey v. Emery (1878)• Carroll v. United States (1925)• Brinegar v. United States (1948)• Rios v. United States (1960)• Johnson v. United States (1948)


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Conclusion• Control over Investigative Practice

– Significant changes since 9/11

• Rule of Law– Indisputable aspect of the American Criminal

Justice System.– Police and public do not always agree on changes.


Documents

1 Book Cover Here Chapter 15 CRIME AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW The Foundations of Criminal Investigation Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing