Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Criminal Procedure (Face-to-Face)

CJ 3320-01

Course: CJ 3320-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: PSCJ
CRN: 32412

Course Description

Examines procedural requirements for judicial processing of criminal offenders, including the rights of the accused, general court procedures, trial preparation, and principal constitutional law as applicable to criminal justice practitioners. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Prerequisite(s): CJ 1010 and CJ 1330 - Prerequisite Min. Grade: D-

Required Texts

Criminal Procedure, 10th Edition, Joel Samaha, Cengage Learning, ISBN, 978-1-305-96900-1.  If you wish to use the 9th, or any other earlier edition, please contact me.

Learning Outcomes

Understand the procedure by which criminal cases are developed and tried. 

Gain an appreciation of the balance that exists between societal needs for effective law enforcement and the preservation of individual liberties.

Grasp the role of courts in maintaining that balance.

Course Requirements

1.  First Examination:  This multiple choice / true - false examination will cover materials presented on Days 1 through 13.  It counts as 20% of the final grade.

2.  Second Examination.  This multiple choice / true - false examination will cover materials presented on Days 15 through 27.  It counts as 20% of the final grade.

3.  Final Examination.  This multiple choice / true - false examination will cover materials presented in Days 29 through 39.  It counts as 20% of the final grade.

4.  Case Brief and Presentation.

Students will write a one-to-two-page case brief of an appellate opinion of a criminal case.  A list of available cases and a sign-up roster will be provided separately.

Briefs will utilize a “F.I.R.A.C.” format, i.e. five sections which include 1- the Factual background the case, 2 - the Issue presented for decision, 3 - the Rule of law applied by the court, 4 - the Analysis of the court, and 5 - the Conclusion the court reached.  

Students will conduct a three-to-five-minute presentation of their briefs in class on a date that will be identified.  Written case briefs are due at the conclusion of the in-class presentation. 

The brief counts for 20% of the final grade.

5.  Attendance and active class participation are essential to gain the ability to understand and apply the nuances of various criminal procedures, theories, concepts, and principles.  To maximize the grade for this assignment, students must demonstrate consistent, timely attendance and students must actively participate in class discussions.  Consistent attendance without active participation is graded in the "B" range, i.e. from 83 - 86.  Students can expect to be called upon frequently, by name, to answer questions and to otherwise participate.


Course Outline

Day 1:  Course Orientation and Introduction.

Day 2:  Liberty - Balancing Liberty and Order, Objective bases to infringe Liberty, and Appellate Courts.

Day 3:  Liberty (Continued) - Constitutional Order, Federalism, and Due Process (Introduction.)

Day 4:  Due Process (continued) – Amendment V, Amendment XIV, Incorporation of Rights at the State level, Equal Protection, and the Due Process “Revolution.”

Day 5:  The Definition of Searches & Seizures - Warrants and Amendment IV in general, the Characteristics of a Search,  Expectations of Privacy, and Private “Searches.”

Day 6:  The Definition of Searches & Seizures - Third Party Doctrine and Selected forms of Electronic Information Gathering.

Day 7:  The Definition of Searches & Seizures - Plain View, Public Places, Open Fields, and Encounters with Persons.

Day 8:  Investigatory Stops and Protective Searches - The nature of Stops and their Bases.

Day 9:  Investigatory Stops and Protective Searches - Proving / explaining Reasonable Suspicion, Sources of Reasonable Suspicion, the Purpose of a Stop, the Scope of a Stop, and the Result of a Stop.

Day 10:  Investigatory Stops and Protective Searches - Frisks, Stops at Roadsides, Frisks at Roadsides, Checkpoints / Roadblocks, and Searches / Seizures at International Borders.

Day 11:  Seizure of Persons: Arrests - Definition, When does Arrest Occur, Basis, and “Arrest-able” Offenses.

Day 12:  Seizure of Persons: Arrests - Probable Cause; A Balance Point, Warrant Requirement, and the Use of Force.

Day 13:  Review For First Examination.

Day 14:  First Examination.

Day 15:  Searches for Evidence and Amendment IV - Searches (vs. non-searches), Constitutional Standards, the Warrant Process.

Day 16:  Searches for Evidence and Amendment IV - Scope and Manner, Knock and Announce,   Exceptions to the Warrant requirement: Incident to Arrest and Consent.

Day 17:  Searches for Evidence and Amendment IV - Exceptions to the Warrant requirement: Consent (continued), Vehicles, and Exigent Circumstances

Day 18:  Special Needs Searches and Amendment IV - Definitions, Types: Inventories, Borders, and Airports.

Day 19:  Special Needs Searches and Amendment IV - Custody Related Searches, Public School Student Searches, College Dormitory Searches. and Employee Drug Testing.

Day 20:  Self Incrimination and Amendments V, VI, and Amendment XI - How confessions are obtained; a practical view.

Day 21:  Self Incrimination and Amendments V, VI, and Amendment XIV - Constitutional Standards, Admissions / Confessions, Compulsion - Overbearing the Will, Right to Counsel, Miranda and the duty to warn - Custody.

Day 22:  Self Incrimination and Amendments V, VI, and Amendment XIV - Miranda and the duty to warn - Interrogation, Public Safety Exception to Miranda, Waiver, and Involuntariness.

Day 23:  Identification Procedures and Amendments V, VI, and XIV - Constitutional Standards, Lineups, Showups, and Due Process Implications.

Day 24:  Identification Procedures and Amendments V, VI, and XIV - Due Process Analysis, Right to Counsel, Trends to Enhance Reliability, and Forensic Evidence.

Day 25:  Remedies for Constitutional and Other Violations I: The Exclusionary Rule - The Rule - What, How, Why; Assorted Triggering Acts, Derivative Evidence, General Exceptions - Independent Source.

Day 26:  Remedies for Constitutional and Other Violations I: The Exclusionary Rule - General Exceptions - Inevitable Discovery; Attenuation; Collateral Use; Cross Examination of a testifying Defendant; 3 Developing Exceptions - No knock, Good faith, Honest mistake, and a Special Exception - Patane.

Day 27:  Review for Second Examination.

Day 28:  Second Examination.

Day 29:  Remedies for Constitutional and Other Violations II – Non-Exclusionary Remedies for Official Misconduct - Overview of 5 Remedies.

Day 30:  Remedies for Constitutional and Other Violations II - Criminal prosecution, Bivens suits against Federal Officers, FTCA suits against Federal Officers or entities, 42 USC 1983 Federal Civil Rights suits against State Officers and entities, and State civil suits against State Officers and entities.

Day 31: Court Proceedings I, Part I: Pretrial - Charging and Initial Detention.

Day 32:  Court Proceedings I, Part I: Pretrial - First appearance, Bail, Continued Detention, and Right to Counsel.

Day 33:  Court Proceedings I, Part I: Pretrial - Grand Jury / Preliminary Hearing, Arraignment, and Interlocutory motions.

Day 34:  Court Proceedings II, Trial of Case through Conviction - Trial by Jury.

Day 35:  Court Proceedings II, Trial of Case through Conviction - Conviction by Guilty Plea.
Day 36:  Court Procedures III, Post Conviction Procedures: Sentencing, Appeals, and Habeas Corpus - Sentencing Principles, Sentencing Models, and Sentencing Constraints.

Day 37:  Court Procedures III, Post Conviction Procedures: Sentencing, Appeals, and Habeas Corpus - Amendment VIII, Capital Sentencing, Appeals, and Habeas Corpus.

Day 38:  Criminal Procedure In Times of Crisis - Domestic Surveillance, Legislative Initiatives, Miranda and Terrorist Suspects, Technical Surveillance, Some Law of War Implications, and Military Commissions.

Day 39:  Review for Final Examination.

Day 40:  Final Examination.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Personal accountability and responsibility are key elements of good citizenship.  The Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice seeks to inculcate these essential values in our students.  Accordingly, students are expected to meet the published deadlines for all assignments and activities.  

Attendance Policy

Attendance and active class participation are essential to your ability to understand and apply the nuances of various criminal procedure theories, concepts, and principles.  Attendance is mandatory for all class sessions.  Roll will be taken each day.  To maximize your grade for this assignment, you must demonstrate consistent, timely attendance AND you must actively participate in class discussions.  Consistent attendance without active participation is graded in the "B" range, i.e., from 83 - 86.  You can expect to be called upon frequently, by name, to answer questions and to otherwise participate.  If you will be unable to attend a class, notify me by telephone or e-mail prior to the start of class.

Course Fees

None.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.