Criminal Investigation
Criminal Investigation tests your grasp of New York criminal procedure and constitutional limits: when you may stop, frisk, arrest, search, question, and identify a suspect. Accuracy matters because a lawful arrest can still fail if evidence is suppressed.
Core rules
- CPL 140.50 authorizes a stop on reasonable suspicion and a frisk for weapons where the officer reasonably suspects the person is armed. A frisk is not a full search.
- Warrantless searches must fit an exception: consent, plain view, exigency, search incident to lawful arrest, automobile exception, or inventory.
- Miranda warnings are required before custodial interrogation. Custody means a reasonable person would not feel free to leave; interrogation includes words or actions likely to elicit incriminating responses.
- New York's right to counsel is broader than federal law: once representation attaches, police may not question the defendant about the charged matter without counsel present.
- Eyewitness identification should be documented and, where challenged, tested through a Wade hearing; suggestive procedures can suppress identification.
Worked example
Officers see a man matching a burglary description carrying a crowbar near the scene. They stop him based on reasonable suspicion, pat the outer clothing, and feel a hard object. They remove it and find a knife. The frisk was lawful because it was limited to weapons; the knife supports arrest. If officers then ask 'Where did you get the crowbar?' before any arrest or warnings, the answer may be admissible if non-custodial, but once custody and interrogation begin, Miranda applies. Document the basis for suspicion and the frisk scope.
Traps
Do not stretch reasonable suspicion into probable cause. Do not assume a traffic stop is automatically custody for Miranda. Do not rely on a consent search if consent was obtained by show of authority or was revoked. Do not confuse the federal and New York right-to-counsel rules.