{"id":845,"date":"2016-03-19T05:55:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T09:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.massachusettscriminaldefenselawyerblog.com\/?p=845"},"modified":"2016-03-19T05:55:46","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T09:55:46","slug":"supreme-court-warrant-required-cell-phone-searches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delsignoredefense.com\/blog\/supreme-court-warrant-required-cell-phone-searches\/","title":{"rendered":"Cell phone searches require a warrant under the Fourth Amendment, Supreme Court rules in Riley v. California"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Court ruled in Riley v. California that a warrant is required to search a defendant’s cell phone, incident to arrest. The 4th<\/sup> Amendment is having a hard time keeping up with quickly advancing technology. Virtually everyone carries a cell phone on their bodies today, and these phones hold much more information than just call logs. The Supreme Court has upheld this sentiment, making a distinction between cell phones and other items that someone may carry around with them, saying that today’s mobile devices are “in fact minicomputers that have the capacity to be used as telephones.” This advancement in technology has raised questions about where the information stored on people\u2019s cell phones falls within the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizure.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has held that cellphones are protected from warrantless searches, even incident to arrest. So much of an individual\u2019s personal life is available on their mobile device that there needs to be the 4th<\/sup> Amendment\u2019s protection against unreasonable search. Cellphones contain private information that people might not otherwise carry on themselves, and the information is worth of the protection of the 4th<\/sup> Amendment.<\/p>\n

In Riley v. California<\/a>, the defendant\u2019s cell phone was searched incident to arrest for possession of firearms. Defendant\u2019s cell phone had pictures of defendant making gang signs and other gang indicia. Instead of just being indicted for the possession of firearms, defendant was also indicted for separate charges of shooting at an occupied vehicle, attempted murder, and assault with a semi-automatic firearm, all charges stemming from what was discovered on defendant\u2019s cell phone. The Supreme Court unanimously held that the search of defendant\u2019s cell phone violated defendant\u2019s 4th<\/sup> Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches. The Robinson <\/em>warrantless search exception following an arrest exists for the purposes of protecting officer safety and preserving evidence, neither of which is at issue in the search of digital data. Police officers have the ability to preserve evidence while awaiting a warrant simply by disconnecting the phone from the network and holding it until a warrant is secured.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Court ruled in Riley v. California that a warrant is required to search a defendant’s cell phone, incident to arrest. The 4th Amendment is having a hard time keeping up with quickly advancing technology. Virtually everyone carries a cell phone on their bodies today, and these phones hold much more information than just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-united-states-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nCell phone searches require a warrant under the Fourth Amendment, Supreme Court rules in Riley v. California — Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog — March 19, 2016<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Supreme Court ruled in Riley v. 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