| CONFESSIONS - WAIVER OF RIGHTS |
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| A confession must be voluntary in order to be admitted into evidence in a criminal proceeding. When a person makes a confession, he or she is waiving his or her right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The person may also be waiving his or her right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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| SCHOOL SEARCHES |
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| The basic requirement for a search of a student is the reasonableness of the search. If the school officials have a reasonable belief that the search will produce evidence that the student has violated any rules of the school, the officials may search the student. More... |
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| The Exclusionary Rule |
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| When a defendant's fourth, fifth or sixth amendment rights have been violated, the exclusionary rule may apply. The exclusionary rule prevents evidence that was illegally obtained from admission at trial. The exclusionary rule was created by case law in 1914 and was made applicable to the states through case law in 1961.The exclusionary rule is a judicial mandate and does not guarantee the defendant's right to constitutional safeguards.
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| Battered Person Syndrome and Battered Child Syndrome |
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| Battered person syndrome is a derivative of battered woman syndrome. Battered person syndrome involves battery of a male spouse or someone that resides in the household. Battered person syndrome may be used as a justification defense in a homicide prosecution. Typically, the defendant would assert self-defense as a defense and then justify the premise of the self-defense based upon the battered person syndrome. The premise behind battered person syndrome is that this syndrome is gender neutral. More... |
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| RIGHT TO APPEAL |
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| A defendant has a right to appeal his or her final judgment of conviction and sentence by a trial court to a state's appellate court. In order to be considered a defendant for purposes of an appeal, the defendant must have been charged with a crime or the defendant must have committed a criminal offense. More... |
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