MN POST CORRECT ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Scales v Minnesota (1994) - ✔✔Recording requirement (Minnesota only)
- custodial interrogation including Miranda warning, waiving of rights, and all questioning
shall be electronically recorded where feasible
- must be recorded when questioning occurs at place of detention
✔✔Herring v. US (2009) - ✔✔Good faith exception
- exclusionary rule cannot be used to suppress illegally obtained evidence if officer was
acting on erroneous warrant in good faith
✔✔Whren v. US (1996) - ✔✔any traffic offense committed by a driver is a legitimate
legal basis for a stop
✔✔Pena v Leombruni, US 7th Circuit (1999) - ✔✔officer justified in using deadly force
against "crazy suspect" who posed immediate threat of death or great bodily harm,
regardless of suspect's mental state
✔✔City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris (1989) - ✔✔municipalities may be liable for
inadequate training of employees, but only when "failure to train amounts to deliberate
indifference" to the public's constitutional rights
✔✔Thompson v Hubbard, US 8th Circuit (2001) - ✔✔officer entitled to qualified
immunity against excessive force claim for shooting fleeing suspect when suspect
reached toward waistband, even if suspect's waistband could not hold a gun; officer not
required to wait until seeing weapon before employing deadly force
✔✔Plakas v. Drinski (1994) - ✔✔officers not required to used other, less-lethal,
alternatives when deadly force is justified
,✔✔Exclusionary rule - ✔✔evidence obtained in violation of a defendant's rights may not
be used in a criminal trial
✔✔Fruit of the Poisonous Tree - ✔✔Additional evidence that is discovered from
evidence obtained through an illegal search, which is also not admissible in court.
✔✔good faith exception - ✔✔exclusionary rule cannot be used to suppress evidence
illegally obtained due to simple mistakes (not the result of repeated patterns or flagrant
misconduct), where officers were acting in good faith that warrant was valid
✔✔felony - ✔✔more than 1 year in prison (365+1), fine over $3000, or both
✔✔gross misdemeanor - ✔✔up to 1 year in jail, up to $3000 fine, or both
✔✔misdemeanor - ✔✔up to 90 days in jail, up to $1000 fine, or both
✔✔petty misdemeanor - ✔✔not a crime, no jail time, up to $300 fine
✔✔sources of governance (use of force) - ✔✔least to most restrictive:
federal law > state law > dept policy
✔✔totality of circumstances (use of force) - ✔✔Officer/subject factors:
- age
- size
- sex
- skill
- number of participants
Special circumstances:
- weapons
- special knowledge (about suspect)
- injuries
- ground fighting
- disabilities
- imminent danger
✔✔excessive use of force ramifications - ✔✔- civil and/or criminal liability
- administrative discipline
- POST license revocation
✔✔per se - ✔✔by or in itself or themselves; intrinsically
✔✔modus operandi - ✔✔method of operating
, ✔✔mala in se - ✔✔offenses that are wrong by their very nature
✔✔mala prohibita - ✔✔offenses prohibited by law but not wrong in themselves
✔✔actus reus - ✔✔action or conduct that is a constituent element of a crime (may be
the actual crime itself)
✔✔mens rea - ✔✔the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a
crime ("guilty mind"/mental state)
✔✔res gestae - ✔✔statements made at the scene of a crime that are relevant to the
crime; admissible in court
✔✔Habeas Corpus - ✔✔a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a
judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are
shown for their detention
✔✔ex parte - ✔✔a proceeding brought before a court by one party only, without notice
to or challenge by the other side.
✔✔Guardian ad litem - ✔✔a person appointed by the court to represent a minor, an
incompetent person or any other person entitled to such protection by law
✔✔corpus delicti - ✔✔facts proving that a crime has been committed (literally, "body of
the crime")
✔✔Prima Facie Evidence - ✔✔A legal term used to refer to evidence that is good and
sufficient on its face to establish a given fact or prove a case.
✔✔exculpatory evidence - ✔✔evidence that clears a person from blame
✔✔tort law - ✔✔law that deals with civil wrong/breached duty that injures or harms and
individual; provides relief to injured parties, imposes liabilities on responsible parties
✔✔seizure - ✔✔requires physical force/show of authority and restrains the liberty of a
citizen
✔✔4th Amendment - ✔✔protects individuals against unreasonable searches and
seizures
✔✔9th Amendment - ✔✔Citizens entitled to rights not listed in the Constitution
(unenumerated rights)
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Scales v Minnesota (1994) - ✔✔Recording requirement (Minnesota only)
- custodial interrogation including Miranda warning, waiving of rights, and all questioning
shall be electronically recorded where feasible
- must be recorded when questioning occurs at place of detention
✔✔Herring v. US (2009) - ✔✔Good faith exception
- exclusionary rule cannot be used to suppress illegally obtained evidence if officer was
acting on erroneous warrant in good faith
✔✔Whren v. US (1996) - ✔✔any traffic offense committed by a driver is a legitimate
legal basis for a stop
✔✔Pena v Leombruni, US 7th Circuit (1999) - ✔✔officer justified in using deadly force
against "crazy suspect" who posed immediate threat of death or great bodily harm,
regardless of suspect's mental state
✔✔City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris (1989) - ✔✔municipalities may be liable for
inadequate training of employees, but only when "failure to train amounts to deliberate
indifference" to the public's constitutional rights
✔✔Thompson v Hubbard, US 8th Circuit (2001) - ✔✔officer entitled to qualified
immunity against excessive force claim for shooting fleeing suspect when suspect
reached toward waistband, even if suspect's waistband could not hold a gun; officer not
required to wait until seeing weapon before employing deadly force
✔✔Plakas v. Drinski (1994) - ✔✔officers not required to used other, less-lethal,
alternatives when deadly force is justified
,✔✔Exclusionary rule - ✔✔evidence obtained in violation of a defendant's rights may not
be used in a criminal trial
✔✔Fruit of the Poisonous Tree - ✔✔Additional evidence that is discovered from
evidence obtained through an illegal search, which is also not admissible in court.
✔✔good faith exception - ✔✔exclusionary rule cannot be used to suppress evidence
illegally obtained due to simple mistakes (not the result of repeated patterns or flagrant
misconduct), where officers were acting in good faith that warrant was valid
✔✔felony - ✔✔more than 1 year in prison (365+1), fine over $3000, or both
✔✔gross misdemeanor - ✔✔up to 1 year in jail, up to $3000 fine, or both
✔✔misdemeanor - ✔✔up to 90 days in jail, up to $1000 fine, or both
✔✔petty misdemeanor - ✔✔not a crime, no jail time, up to $300 fine
✔✔sources of governance (use of force) - ✔✔least to most restrictive:
federal law > state law > dept policy
✔✔totality of circumstances (use of force) - ✔✔Officer/subject factors:
- age
- size
- sex
- skill
- number of participants
Special circumstances:
- weapons
- special knowledge (about suspect)
- injuries
- ground fighting
- disabilities
- imminent danger
✔✔excessive use of force ramifications - ✔✔- civil and/or criminal liability
- administrative discipline
- POST license revocation
✔✔per se - ✔✔by or in itself or themselves; intrinsically
✔✔modus operandi - ✔✔method of operating
, ✔✔mala in se - ✔✔offenses that are wrong by their very nature
✔✔mala prohibita - ✔✔offenses prohibited by law but not wrong in themselves
✔✔actus reus - ✔✔action or conduct that is a constituent element of a crime (may be
the actual crime itself)
✔✔mens rea - ✔✔the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a
crime ("guilty mind"/mental state)
✔✔res gestae - ✔✔statements made at the scene of a crime that are relevant to the
crime; admissible in court
✔✔Habeas Corpus - ✔✔a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a
judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are
shown for their detention
✔✔ex parte - ✔✔a proceeding brought before a court by one party only, without notice
to or challenge by the other side.
✔✔Guardian ad litem - ✔✔a person appointed by the court to represent a minor, an
incompetent person or any other person entitled to such protection by law
✔✔corpus delicti - ✔✔facts proving that a crime has been committed (literally, "body of
the crime")
✔✔Prima Facie Evidence - ✔✔A legal term used to refer to evidence that is good and
sufficient on its face to establish a given fact or prove a case.
✔✔exculpatory evidence - ✔✔evidence that clears a person from blame
✔✔tort law - ✔✔law that deals with civil wrong/breached duty that injures or harms and
individual; provides relief to injured parties, imposes liabilities on responsible parties
✔✔seizure - ✔✔requires physical force/show of authority and restrains the liberty of a
citizen
✔✔4th Amendment - ✔✔protects individuals against unreasonable searches and
seizures
✔✔9th Amendment - ✔✔Citizens entitled to rights not listed in the Constitution
(unenumerated rights)
