Federal Law

Please use federal law or  your own state law (NC).  Your analysis should include application of the  topics covered during the past seven weeks.  For example, search and  seizure, search warrants, execution of warrants, exceptions to the  warrant requirement, exclusionary rule, Miranda rights, and the right  against self-incrimination.  Do not restate the facts in your paper, but  rather identify the issues, analyze, and provide your legal reasoning.

Chris is a police officer  with the local Centerville Police Department.  She is in plain clothes  and knocked on the front door of Steve’s house and asked if she could  enter to enforce a valid warrant.  The warrant was a search warrant  issued by Judge Wells from the Centerville District Court.  Judge Wells  is a retired state police trooper from the state police barracks in  Centerville.  The warrant indicated that “the first floor of Steve’s  house will be searched for a gun used in connection with a robbery and  jewelry, which was stolen.”  While searching the first floor of Steve’s  house, Officer Chris smelled what she thought was gun powder emanating  from the second floor.  Officer Chris immediately walked upstairs and  found a gun at the tops of the stairs.  She went to confiscate the gun  and while doing so noticed a note attached to the gun with an address on  it.  The address was a known location for stolen jewelry to be pawned.   During the search, Steve told Officer Chris that, “I do not know what  you are here for, because I did not rob Grubb’s jewelry store.”  Officer  Chris asked Steve to go to the police station and Steve agreed.  As  they walked into the police station, Judge Wells yelled, “is that the  person who robbed Grubb’s jewelry store?”  Steve replied, “I told  Officer Chris already, I did not rob Grubb’s jewelry store.”