Probable Cause (From Briefs of 100 Leading Cases in Law Enforcement, P 1-8, 1991, Rolando V. del Carmen, Jeffery T. Walker -- See NCJ-126275)

• NCJ Number: 126276
• Author(s): R V del Carmen; J T Walker
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

On the issue of probable cause, four cases are analyzed for their significance in law enforcement.

Abstract

In Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307 (1959), the Supreme Court ruled that information provided by an informant and subsequently corroborated by an officer provided probable cause for an arrest without a warrant even though such information was hearsay and would not be otherwise admissible in a criminal trial. In U.S. v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1 (1977), the warrantless search of a movable container found in a public place was ruled invalid absent exigent circumstances. The Court ruled in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983), that the two-pronged test established under Aguilar v. Texas and Spinelli v. U.S. be abandoned in favor of a "totality of the circumstances" approach. In U.S. v. Sokolow, 109 S.Ct. 1581 (1989), the Court ruled that while a "drug courier profile" used by police might be helpful, the totality of the circumstances is more important in establishing the legality of the stop and subsequent search.