For courses in criminal procedure and for courses covering the legal/constitutional issues associated with policing and criminal justice.

Fully updated to reflect the current state of the law, this conversational book covers all aspects of criminal procedure—from first contact through appeal. It begins by defining criminal procedure, highlighting the due process/crime control dilemma at the heart of all controversies in criminal procedure; discussing relationships amongst courts; and previewing key trends in criminal procedure. Next, it thoroughly introduces core criminal procedure topics, including search, seizure, interrogations, confessions, and identification. It then widens its focus beyond most competitive books, fully addressing pretrial processes; roles of defense attorneys, prosecutors, and grand juries; plea bargaining and guilty pleas; rights of defendants at trial; appeals, and habeas corpus. To link criminal procedure concepts with the real world, each chapter contains up-to-date decision-making exercises, as well as sample legal forms and excerpts from current police department policy manuals.