I. Catalog Course Description: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE I

"An examination of the leading constitutional cases on criminal justice with special emphasis on the fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments to the federal Constitution and on the nature and application of due process in relation to the criminal procedure structure."

The status of being "an accused" can happen to you, without a necessary relationship to your being culpable or involved in any way in the alleged criminal incident. What U.S. Constitutional protection do you have if ever you are accused? That is the continuing question of this course as we trace the development and application of the doctrine of Due Process to the procedures routinely used in criminal matters.

II. Texts:

Criminal Procedure and the Constitution, 1999 paperback, by Israel, Kamisar and LaFave, West Publishing Co.  (Being an annually updated edition, it may be late arriving in the bookstore.  Don't worry. Notice that our first assignment below concerns the history and context of due process before the text becomes needed.)

Gideon's Trumpet, Anthony Lewis, Paperback, available in bookstore and any library. Interesting overview of how U.S. Supreme Court processes its cases. A final exam question or two will indicate if you read it.

III. Course Objectives:

1. To develop an understanding of the history and development of Due Process for the protection of persons accused of crime, as documented in the Constitution of the United States.

2. To analyze the specific due processes expressed in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments, especially concerning arrest, search, seizure, interrogation, prosecution, defense and trial.

3. To analyze the currently guiding decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Criminal Justice System.

4. To become aware of the issues and arguments related to Constitutional Criminal Procedure in cases decided by lower courts.

IV. Class Responsibility:

You are in preparation to become "Counsel" for courts and agencies as well as individual clients. Therefore, your practice in helping this class present and analyze cases is expected as a routine part of your professional development. In order to have dependable, well prepared cases presented, all students will be individually assigned cases in advance for oral presentation and leadership, much as being assigned cases by an employer. All other class members are expected to have briefed the case and read the assigned references sufficiently to supplement the oral analysis or ask questions.

As a lawyer you need to be HEARD.  About one half of womens’ voices and one third of mens’ voices do not happen to have the natural power to be clearly heard in a large room. Therefore when reciting you must be aware of the need to project your voice to the entire room. If I raise my hand it means you need to speak louder and/or more clearly.

V. Classmates and Colleagues:

Consider yourself introduced to your classmates. As soon as seating stabilizes, you'll be provided with a copy of the seating chart. Similarly, when you join a firm or agency you'll have to learn who's who and who's where as quickly as possible. We will function as a cooperative team, as a law firm does. So, in this course, as in the active practice of law, it is NOT considered unethical to give a colleague a quiet prompt or assist when helpful. While all students are expected to "think on your feet" (even when sitting down) and will be challenged to do so, no one will ever be deliberately embarrassed. You are not expected to merely recite the case or text, but to lead our thinking about it, don't be concerned or embarrassed about making mistakes; we often learn more from mistakes than incidentally being right the first time. For that purpose some "mistakes" are programmed into the course, so yours -- and mine -- will just enrich it.

VI. Class Times:

As required of instructors four centuries ago by the student-managed University of Bologna so they would get their tuition's worth of learning, I routinely begin and end class right on time. However if you are delayed in traffic or detained in another class, don't be worried about coming in whenever you can. If you've missed the roll, see me after class to correct it. If you have to leave early for court, interview, lavatory, telephone, etc., feel free to do so.

VII. Attendance:

Attendance records will be maintained consistent with the Law School's general policy. If there is a legitimate excuse for an absence, please let me know promptly in writing so my records are accurate. Observation and preliminary research indicate that absences coordinate closely with final course grades. Regardless of the reason for the absence, and not the result of any "docking" by instructors, missing a class automatically results in your missing some knowledge, understanding or implication covered spontaneously during the class. That gap often causes the lessening of your potential course grade by about one-half letter per class missed. If you know you will have to miss a class, arrange with a colleague for a briefing and/or send in a tape recorder.

VIII. Office:

Off the Financial Aid's lobby, phone 562-7875. Voicemail available. You are also welcome to phone me at home, 343-7093. Office hours: generally before classes and as mutually convenient.

IX. Grading:

Final grades will be determined by a 3-hour explanatory and hypothetical case type exam, limited to exam sheets and two bluebooks.

X. Conferences:

You are encouraged to work with those assigned to the same case or topic and to determine for yourselves how you will present them, as well as to form small study groups to discuss and review the doctrines and principles of the course. I am available to meet with individuals and study groups after most classes and whenever mutually convenient almost every day.

XI. The Instructor:

Tim Reilly, was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he completed his bachelor's degree in Journalism and master's degree in Education before serving with the U.S. Army at Fort Bliss, Texas. After graduating from Stetson Law School, he was in private practice for several years before concentrating on teaching. He has taught History, Economics, Logic, Ethics, Criminal Justice and Legal Assistantship. As a visiting professor, he taught at Sophia University in Tokyo and at the Florida State University Center in London. He has participated in study-travel programs in Japan, China, Austria, Russia, Greece, Ethiopia and Ireland. At Stetson, he has taught Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Remedies, Criminal Law and Seminar on Comparative Legal Systems. He was previously director of the Criminal Justice Program on the St. Petersburg Campus of the University of South Florida, where he was named a professor emeritus.

XII. Recommendations:

This page was last updated on 11/20/01.