This course provides an in-depth exploration of the laws and constitutional cases governing criminal procedure in the American criminal justice system. The course focuses on the "police phase" of the criminal process, including custody and seizures, arrests, interrogation, identification procedures. It also provides a survey of the rules of evidence in criminal proceedings, their origins and history, the use of both direct and circumstantial evidence in proving guilt or innocence, witness reliability, hearsay, and the use of inference. The course also highlights both procedural and evidentiary rules governing the investigative and prosecutorial phases of law enforcement, including the role of investigating grand juries, and the defense and police misconduct aspects of entrapment.
Last Updated: 10/21/2013