A private citizen who recovers stolen property and turns it over to law enforcement may present that property as evidence against a suspect in a receiving-stolen-goods case.

• A. True, because civilians are not bound by Fourth Amendment restrictions.
• B. False, because only police can introduce such evidence.
• C. True only if a formal chain of custody is established.
• D. False, unless the property is re-labeled by police.

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that Fourth Amendment limits apply to government actions, not private individuals. A private citizen who finds stolen property and turns it over to law enforcement is not acting as a government actor seizing evidence, so their actions don’t violate Fourth Amendment protections. Once the property is in the hands of law enforcement, it can be used as evidence against a suspect in a receiving-stolen-goods case, as long as the item is properly identified and its chain of custody is maintained to show it is the same item and has not been altered. The private citizen’s role is to bring the item to police and provide any relevant details about its discovery; the police then handle admissibility procedures, including authentication and maintaining the chain of custody.