In the Fourth amendment Americans are guaranteed to “… be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…” (U.S. Constitution). There are a number of court cases that outline the requirements for searches without a warrant. Searches without a warrant require the owner or occupant’s permission and t

In a case where a defendant has waived his or her fifth amendment right against self-incrimination the burden is on the prosecution to prove “that the defendant was effectively warned of his rights and that he then intelligently and understandingly declined to exercise them by making statement”(U.S. v Micieli, 1979). “If the defendant talks to police after being advised of his Miranda rights, government bears burden of proving by preponderance of evidence that waiver of right was voluntary” (U.S. v Toro-Pelaez, 1997). “Government bears burden of proving that defendant’s waiver of Miranda rights was voluntary by preponderance of evidence in sense that it was product of free and deliberate choice” (U.S. v Gell-Iren, 1998). “Even though defendant initially executes waiver of rights, it still remains burden of prosecution to prove by preponderance of evidence that his subsequent incriminating statements were voluntarily given, as prerequisite to admission thereof as evidence against him” (State [Iowa] v Jump, 1978). The quotes above have in recent years shaped the way that the burden of proof is distributed in self-incrimination issues. To sum up all of the quotations first, it is not necessary for the prosecution to have documentation that a person has waived their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. The prosecution is only responsible to show that the defendant was properly informed of his or her rights and they have made up their own mind to decline their rights. Second the government is the only party responsible to show that the waiver of the right to remain silent was voluntary, not forced or coerced, and was purely the decision of the defendant. The final part requires that the prosecution bear the burden of proof that the statements given were voluntarily before the statements may be admitted as evidence against the defendant. If the prosecution is unable to provide evidence showing voluntary confession than they may have the case thrown out of court because any other evidence recovered as a result of the confession is

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