NCJ Number
130294
Date Published
1991
Length
84 pages
Annotation
Detentions or seizures constituting arrests represent the benchmark of fourth amendment analysis.
Abstract
In most circumstances, the legality of an arrest or other detention is of practical significance only if it is accompanied by or leads to a search that yields incriminating evidence. Should such evidence be offered against the suspect at trial and be challenged, its admissibility will often be affected by the validity of the detention. At one time, all detentions were regarded as indistinguishable and characterized as arrests, but this is no longer true. Case law, much of it involving the fourth amendment requirement that seizures of the person be reasonable, has identified various detentions. Given the different requirements that have developed for different detentions and the variation in searches that can be made in relation to detention types, how a detention is characterized is often an important question. Case law of the U.S. Supreme Court has differentiated arrests from detentions which the court has characterized as investigatory stops. The fourth amendment analysis of detentions and seizures is followed by an examination of field detentions (so-called "Terry" stops), the right to make weapon searches where no arrest has occurred, nonarrest detention of persons in automobiles, and the pretext issue involving whether an otherwise proper arrest or detention is invalidated if the police officer's intention is to circumvent certain legal requirements. Case materials are included.