NCJ Number
169799
Date Published
1997
Length
1248 pages
Annotation
This text, designed for police officers enrolled in college courses and for other college students interested in law enforcement careers, uses the casebook method of instruction and focuses on substantive criminal law, basic concepts regarding proof of guilt, and legal limitations on law enforcement practices.
Abstract
In addition to reproducing selected case opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts, the text contains introductory material and notes related to the main case reports. The text is organized according to three parts. The first part on substantive criminal law covers criminal procedures, constitutional limitations on legislative power to create and define criminal offenses, Federal criminal jurisdiction, homicide, sex offenses and related problems, misappropriation and related property offenses, criminal responsibility and the defense of mental impairment, and uncompleted criminal conduct. The second part on basic legal concepts regarding proof of guilt focuses on reasonable doubt and presumptions of fact. The third part on legal limitations on law enforcement practices and procedures examines limits of undercover work, eyewitness identification procedures, criminal interrogations and confessions, arrest law, searches and seizures, and the exclusionary rule. Selected provisions of the U.S. Constitution are appended.