Understanding Criminal Procedure, Vol 1: Investigation

This book is a great primer for your 1L criminal procedure class. It is well written and the material is presented in an understandable manner. I think the biggest benefit of this book is that it puts all of the material in perspective in one quick blow. In class you sometimes cover a certain topic over the course of weeks, and sometimes a topic you cover in the second half of the course is based on or changes what you learned in the first half. This reality often makes it difficult to understand how what you're learning at one time relates to what you've learned at another time. This book helps bridge the gap. Some people have criticized this book because the author goes off on tangents or because the author repeats himself, etc. I think these types of criticism are not well founded. The tangents are few and far between, and they are brief, providing a broader understanding of the rules that make up the bulk of the book. Additionally, to the extent that the author repeats himself I think he necessarily does so, and no further. Repetition is often required because of the intricacies of the topic. Changes or trends in one area have a way of effecting the law in other areas. In short, I highly recommend this book. I suggest reading the chapters after you have already covered all the materials in class that are to be covered in the chapter; that is, don't read ahead of your class pace in terms of topics. Also, don't wait until the end of the semester to start reading this book; at over 600 pages, you won't have time (however, some chapters you will probable be able to skip). Good luck in Crim. Pro.!

Dressler has done a great job on this pocket treatise - one reviewer said: "I do not want to bathe myself with the nuances of side arguments of the 4th amendments." - Are you kidding - these are where the issues are on the 4th amendment ! Also said" I would rather leave this to the teacher to present or a horn book." - Are you kidding - Dressler is a giant in Criminal law and procedure - your law school teacher pales compared to Dressler - further more - this IS a hornbook. Also said "writing is dry and goes on tangents" - the book is not dry - it is lucid and clear - and the tangents are where the issues are. Also said "I used Black Letter Series for Criminal Law and found it very helpful" - I AGREE - THE BLACKLETER LAW SERIES AND THIS DRESSLER TEXT ARE HANDS DOWN THE BEST POCKET TREATISES ON THIS SUBJECT. ALSO RECOMMENDED - THe Dressler Sum & Substance Crim Pro Audio CDs - THEY ARE ALSO AWESOME. I sold all my law books aftger law school - this is one of the priveleged few that I kept because it is that good - The other supurbe Lexis understanding series treatise are Copyrights and Torts.

Understanding Crim Pro was a godsend during the semester. Mine is one of the oddball schols that have Crim Pro rather than Crim Law as a required first year course- thus the resources are few and far between. This was the companion book to the Dressler casebook, and after a while, I began to rely almost entirely on this hornbook rather than the casebook. The nice thing about Crim Pro is that there are very few surprises, much of it common sense (except maybe target standing or "fruit of the poisonous tree" in relation to Miranda). But still, you want to know the ins and out of each doctrine. A great book all around; you MUST buy it if you're going to use the Dressler casebook.

Dressler addresses the the intricacies of criminal procedure in an effective, detailed fashion, which is necessary if you are ever going to understand the interplay between the amendments and their application in the real world. while designed for law students, i have practiced criminal law for 7 years, and still find myself referring back to this book regularly to clarify issues. the book is extremely well-organized, and covers all the major cases from which procedural jurisprudence has evolved. if you buy only one book on constitutional law as it applies to criminal procedure, this has to be it.

Prof. Dressler has put together an extraordinarily useful and readable guide to the labyrinth that is U.S. criminal procedure. In fact, the book helped this otherwise mediocre law student get an "A" in the course at University of Chicago. I must dispute his statement that the book is only for law students, however. I referred to it again and again as a refresher in the fundamentals when I was a fledgling prosecuter. In fact, I just gave a copy to a friend of mine who is a new Assistant U.S. Attorney