Criminal Procedure Probable Cause
Criminal Procedure-Probable Cause Article Summary
Probable cause is a standard of reasonable belief, based on facts. Probable cause is necessary to sue someone in a civil court, or to arrest and prosecute someone in a criminal court. Before a person can be sued, arrested, or prosecuted the plaintiff, or the police and prosecutor must have enough that would lead a reasonable person to believe the claim or charge is true. Probable cause sets a limit on police power. A police officer cannot arrest a person just because they want to. The officer must have a reasonable amount of suspicion or evidence to stop or detain them, and probable cause to charge or arrest them. An officer must always meet the criteria of probable cause before taking action with regard to criminal activity. If the officer does not have probable cause the case will be dismissed and the officer will be open to a lawsuit. The context of the Criminal Procedure is important to the criminal justice system as it allows rules and regulations to adhere to the court system in criminal proceeding (Zalman, 2008, p. 10). A criminal procedure starts with the first contact of a police officer through investigating and interrogation. Next is the pretrial process, charges by the prosecutor, adjudication claiming guilty or innocent or plea bargaining, the sentencing process, and last the appellate review by a higher court (Zalman, 2008, p. 10). Criminal procedure and probable cause correlate within each other in the criminal justice system. Cell phone tracking and or hacking has been a controversial issue because of the rights that stand behind it. As a team we have selected to cover the current topic on cell phone tracking and how the search and arrest warrants correlate with probable cause, exceptions to warrant requirements, defining search and seizure arrest and reasonableness in conjunction to the criminal justice system. “Instead of seeking warrants based on probable cause, some federal prosecutors
Probable cause is a standard of reasonable belief, based on facts. Probable cause is necessary to sue someone in a civil court, or to arrest and prosecute someone in a criminal court. Before a person can be sued, arrested, or prosecuted the plaintiff, or the police and prosecutor must have enough that would lead a reasonable person to believe the claim or charge is true. Probable cause sets a limit on police power. A police officer cannot arrest a person just because they want to. The officer must have a reasonable amount of suspicion or evidence to stop or detain them, and probable cause to charge or arrest them. An officer must always meet the criteria of probable cause before taking action with regard to criminal activity. If the officer does not have probable cause the case will be dismissed and the officer will be open to a lawsuit. The context of the Criminal Procedure is important to the criminal justice system as it allows rules and regulations to adhere to the court system in criminal proceeding (Zalman, 2008, p. 10). A criminal procedure starts with the first contact of a police officer through investigating and interrogation. Next is the pretrial process, charges by the prosecutor, adjudication claiming guilty or innocent or plea bargaining, the sentencing process, and last the appellate review by a higher court (Zalman, 2008, p. 10). Criminal procedure and probable cause correlate within each other in the criminal justice system. Cell phone tracking and or hacking has been a controversial issue because of the rights that stand behind it. As a team we have selected to cover the current topic on cell phone tracking and how the search and arrest warrants correlate with probable cause, exceptions to warrant requirements, defining search and seizure arrest and reasonableness in conjunction to the criminal justice system. “Instead of seeking warrants based on probable cause, some federal prosecutors
References: Criminal Law, Lawyer Source. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.criminal-law-lawyer- source.com/terms/probable-cause.html Nakashima, E. (November 23, 2007). Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request. The Washington Post. doi: http://www.washingtonpost.com NPC . (2007). Retrieved from http://nationalparalegal.edu/conlawcrimproc_public/protectionfromsearches&seizures/ext owarrantreq.asp Search and Seizure. (2013). Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Search+and+Seizure U.S Constitution. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am4.html Zalman, M. (2008). Criminal procedure: Constitution and society (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. .