Criminal Procedure Templates
The writing templates of this subject are presented in the following outline. The outline prioritizes practicality, offering context to clarify the relationships between templates and provide a clear framework.
Much of criminal procedure is focused on whether a defendant’s motion to suppress evidence should be granted. This is usually the ultimate question of fact patterns concerning the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment analyses and Fruit of the Poisonous Tree analyses.
Fourth Amendment
If the grounds of the motion to suppress are based on an unreasonable search or seizure, the relevant questions are:
1. Does the defendant have standing to challenge the search or seizure?
2. If a seizure occurred, was it unreasonable? The standard for unreasonable seizures varies based on the type of situation:
3. If a search has occurred, was it unreasonable?
Fifth Amendment
If the grounds of the motion to suppress are based on a failure of the government to administer a Miranda warning during a custodial interrogation, the relevant questions are:
1. Was the defendant’s rights under the Fifth Amendment and Miranda violated?
2. Even if the evidence was gathered in violation of Miranda and the Fifth Amendment, the evidence is not necessarily required to be excluded from trial:
Sixth Amendment
Are the grounds of the motion to suppress based on a violation of the defendant’s rights to counsel, confront the witness, a jury trial, or a speedy trial?
On the grounds of ineffective counsel, the defendant may file a motion for a new trial, a motion to withdraw a guilty plea, a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence.
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
Are the grounds of the motion to suppress based on derivative evidence discovered due to other evidence the government gathered in violation of the Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendments?
Miscellaneous Issues
Were the defendant’s rights violated during an identification procedure?
Were the defendant’s rights violated during a pretrial procedure?
Was the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right to be free of double jeopardy for the same offense violated?
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