Online Criminal Procedure and Evidence Course

COURSE SYLLABUS: Criminal Procedure and Evidence

Course Title:	CJ405 - Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Department:	Criminal Justice
Instructor:	T. Elizabeth Stetson, J.D. E-Mail - Vita
Prerequisites:	None

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE:

This course is an introduction to criminal procedure and criminal evidence. It is not designed for those planning a career as an attorney, but rather is designed for those planning a career as a criminal justice professional.

REQUIREMENTS: - Online Book Store

1. Required Texts. The first required text is Criminal Procedure for the Criminal Justice Professional, 9th Edition, by John N. Ferdico, published by Wadsworth (Thomson), 2004/2005, ISBN: 0534629199 . The second required text is Criminal Evidence, 5th Edition, by Judy Hails, published by Wadsworth (Thomson), 2004/2005, ISBN: 0495001384 .

2. Exams. Students will be required to complete one exam for each of the thirteen criminal procedure units and each of the seven criminal evidence units. The exams will consist primarily of true/false questions.

3. Grading Scale.

Each unit will constitute 5% of the grade.

90-100 points	= A Excellent
80-89 points	= B Above Average
70-79 points	= C Average
60-69 points	= D Below Average
59 points or Below	= F Failing Grade

TOPICS:

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE UNITS:

One – Individual rights under the United States Constitution

Two – Criminal courts and criminal trials

Three – Basic underlying concepts: The exclusionary rule, privacy, probable cause, and reasonableness

Four – Arrest

Five – Search warrants

Six – Stops and frisks

Seven – Search Incident to arrest

Eight – Consent searches

Nine – The plain view doctrine

Ten – Search and seizure of vehicles and containers

Eleven – Open fields and abandoned property

Twelve – Admissions and confessions

Thirteen – Pretrial identification procedures

CRIMINAL EVIDENCE UNITS:

Fourteen – Introduction, the court process and types of evidence

Fifteen – Direct and circumstantial evidence

Sixteen – Witnesses

Seventeen – Crime scene evidence, experiments and models

Eighteen – Documentary evidence

Nineteen – Hearsay and its exceptions

Twenty – Privileged communications