Legal issues in criminal procedure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal issues in criminal procedure - Essay Example The fourth amendment defines a search as a substantive breach of personal right of privacy. Further, application of technology to advance police activities with respect to search have been considered as searches. This was held in the case of Kyllo v United States. Use of police dog for detection is also considered as a search unless the dog sniffs from a far distance. The use of a police dog can, therefore, be considered as a technological act to constitute a search.The general rule is that searches are supposed to be made after a warrant has been issued by a court. There are, however, exemptions to this rule and the police can legally search a personal vehicle without a warrant. Such exemptions include â€Å"searches with consent, special need beyond law, exigent circumstances, stop and frisk and motor vehicle† searches. All these exemptions allow the police to make a legal search on Tom’s vehicle. There was, for example, an initial consent, by the suspects, for the se arch. Further, the actual detection of a suspicious material in the car trunk was an instant event. The police can also argue that it was a stop and frisk exercise since the car driver behaved suspiciously in a deserted area. The law also allows the police to make searches on vehicles on transit. Based on these arguments, the court is likely to uphold the search as legal. Under this principle, the law provides that a suspect’s immediate environment can be searched to prevent the suspect from obtaining and possibly interfering with evidence.