Fourth Amendment Violations and Remedies: Scenarios
This week, you are studying the Fourth Amendment and how violations of the Fourth Amendment are remedied. Focus your discussion on the following:
- Review the following scenarios: Scenario 1: Sally is suspected of selling drugs, and police officers decide to retrieve a trash bag that Sally has left on the roadside curb. The officers discovered drug paraphernalia and heroin and charged Sally with possession of heroin.
Scenario 2: Billy suspects that Katie is having an affair. He hires a private security firm to track her movements. Security firm employees enter Katie’s open garage and search the contents of her car while she is inside sleeping. They take a notepad that contains intimate photos of Katie and her new boyfriend.
Scenario 3: Marcus was staying at a friend’s rented house. His friend Grant left the house to pick up some pizza. While Grant was out, the police knocked on the door and stated they had permission from the landlord to search the premises. They did not have a search warrant. Marcus said that was fine with him, and he invited the officers inside. The officers found cocaine in an upstairs drawer and arrested Grant when he returned with the pizza, charging him with possession of cocaine.
Answer the following questions for each scenario:
- Has a Fourth Amendment violation occurred in the scenario?
- If so, what remedies could the accused have?
- Locate a case in your state where a court has analyzed an illegal seizure of evidence violating the Fourth Amendment.
- In your own words, provide a summary of the case and its citation.
- Do you agree with the outcome of this case? Why or why not?