Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure
Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure
This domain tests NY Penal Law elements, arrest authority, search and seizure, identification, interrogation, and the CPL flow from arrest to arraignment. The exam often hides a legal issue inside a patrol scenario.
Core rules
- CPL 140.10 defines warrantless arrest authority; probable cause is required for arrest, while reasonable suspicion supports a Terry stop.
- NY uses the De Bour levels: request for information, common-law inquiry, stop, and arrest. Each level needs its own predicate.
- A frisk requires reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous; it is not automatic after every stop.
- Searches need a warrant, consent, search incident to lawful arrest, plain view, exigency, or another recognized exception.
- Custodial interrogation requires Miranda warnings; NY's right to counsel can attach earlier than the federal rule when police know an attorney has been retained.
Worked example
At 2 a.m., an officer sees a man matching a burglary description carrying a crowbar. The sergeant should treat this as reasonable suspicion for a stop, not automatic probable cause. Officers may ask questions and, if they reasonably suspect a weapon, frisk for weapons. A search of the bag requires consent, plain view, or probable cause plus an exception. If the man is arrested after a witness identifies him, the sergeant ensures the arrest is based on probable cause and that any statement is taken after proper warnings and counsel inquiry.
Traps
- Treating flight alone as probable cause.
- Frisking every stopped person.
- Searching incident to an arrest that is later found unlawful.
- Interrogating after the right to counsel attaches.