Description
Instructions
Write a two-page paper analyzing the fact pattern presented below. Please use federal law or your own state law. Your analysis should include application of the topics covered during the past seven weeks. For example, search and seizure, search warrants, execution of warrants, exceptions to the warrant requirement, exclusionary rule, Miranda rights, and the right against self-incrimination. Do not restate the facts in your paper, but rather identify the issues, analyze, and provide your legal reasoning.
Ensure your citations are in APA or Bluebook format.
Please see the grading rubric, which will be used to grade this assignment.
Fact Pattern
Michael is a veteran police officer for the New York City Police Department. He is dispatched to investigate a robbery and possible homicide at 123 Apple Lane to Michelle Hansberry’s house. He knocks on the door in uniform and announces his identity and flashes a search warrant to Michelle. She does not ask to see or read the search warrant and lets Officer Michael in the house.
The warrant was issued by Judge Judy at the local district court. It is a search warrant that indicated the kitchen, family room, powder bathroom and common areas of the home could be searched for a gun used in connection with a murder in Time Square and for a diamond necklace missing from Tiffany’s jewelry store on Fifth Avenue.
While searching the premises indicated on the search warrant, Officer Michael detects a smell coming from the master bedroom, which is located on the first floor of the home. He steps by the entrance of the bedroom and determines based on his professional experience, it is the smell of gun powder. Due to this emanating smell, Officer Michael immediately goes into the bedroom and discovers a gun sitting on the dresser. Officer Michael grabbed the gun and placed it into an evidence bag and labeled it.
He then proceeds to open the dresser drawer and discovers the diamond necklace that was missing from Tiffany’s jewelry store. When Officer Michael questioned Michelle, she responded, “I did not kill anyone, my sister stole the necklace. I only agreed to hide the necklace for her.” Officer Michael asked Michelle to go to the police station to answer some questions, and she agreed. Upon arrival at the station and being booked in, Michelle told Officer Michael’s partner Scott, “my sister made me do it, I had no choice.”
