Superb Professors

Question 1: Was the arrest of Mayo a legal arrest? Discuss why. Please include the components of a reasonable arrest and whether or not they were met with Mayo.

Looking at the data we have I think that the Mr. Mayo arrest was legal as the officer had probable cause.  He has the dead body of Mr. Scowen to know the crime had occurred, he had witnesses’ statements and then the officer had Mr. Mayo’s gun that was used in the crime. (“Arrest,” n.d.)  Due to the probable cause a warrantless arrest is legitimate and did not violate the fourth amendment.

Question 2: Did law enforcement need an arrest warrant prior to arresting Mayo? Discuss why. Make sure to support your thoughts.

NO, as stated earlier due to the probable cause I don’t feel like the officer needed a warrant to conduct an arrest of Mr. Mayo.  That doesn’t mean the Mr. Mayo is guilty but the probable cause allows the officer arrest Mr. Mayo.  To make sure the warrantless arrest stay valid the officer will have to show probable cause that justified making that decision.  The suspect is however, entitled to a judicial determination within approximately 48 hours. (“Arrest,” n.d.) 

Question 3: Can law enforcement seize the broken beer bottle and the gun without a search warrant?

                Yes, because they are in plain view of the officers while they are securing the crime scene.  Therefore there is no need for a search warrant to be attained for the officer to gather the evidence.  I thought that maybe there would be a “crime scene” exception for gathering evidence.  However, I found there is not, in fact the Supreme Court argued just because a homicide is committed at the location doesn’t mean a warrantless search is valid and that a search warrant should be attained.

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