Criminal Procedure: From First Contact to Appeal, 7th edition

For courses in criminal procedure.

An authentic study of criminal procedure, for both the novice reader and aspiring law student

Criminal Procedure is a comprehensive introduction to criminal procedure, from a first encounter with the police, all the way through to appeal. Assuming no legal expertise, the text connects criminal procedure cases to real-life implications through innovative pedagogy. For example, decision-making exercises position students as judge and challenge them to decide cases based on the facts presented.

Conversational and easy to read, the 7th Edition adds Supreme Court decisions through the 2021-22 term and analyzes their impact on criminal and legal processes.

Hallmark features of this title

Basic and nontraditional topics

• About half the content covers traditional criminal procedure topics, including search-and-seizure, interrogation and identification procedures.
• About half the content moves beyond basics. Topics include pretrial process, legal roles, plea bargaining and guilty pleas, rights of criminal defendants at trial, and appeals and habeas corpus.
• Constitutional rights of criminal defendants, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, are a point of focus. Many Supreme Court decisions are discussed.

Real-world applications

• Decision-Making exercises throughout chapters prompt students to decide cases.
• Further Exploration at the end of each chapter examines controversial issues.
• Actual legal forms and policy excerpts are referenced extensively.

New and updated features of this title

Features illuminating chapter concepts

• EXPANDED: Numerous recent Supreme Court decisions are included, through the 2021-22 term. Topics covered include qualified immunity, pretrial detentions, victim impact statements and warning shots, among many others.
• REVISED: Several “Further Exploration” exercises at the ends of chapters have been updated with recent court cases and current event scenarios (e.g., District of Columbia v. Wesby in Chapter 3, and Caniglia v. Strom in Chapter 4).
• REVISED: Web links and exercises at the end of each chapter reinforce key issues.

Implications of recent cases

• NEW: Two recent qualified immunity cases have been added to Chapter 2: Rivas-Villages v. Cortesluna and City of Tahlequa v. Bond.
• NEW: A new section on the “third-party doctrine” in Chapter 3 culminates with the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Carpenter v. United States, a cell phone search case.
• NEW: The latest sentencing decisions have been added to Chapter 15.