Can the Police Answer a Seized Cell Phone?
Jeff Welty
The Ninth Circuit recently decided a case that addresses a question I’ve been asked several times: may the police answer a seized cell phone? The answer may depend on the […]
September 17, 2013
The Ninth Circuit recently decided a case that addresses a question I’ve been asked several times: may the police answer a seized cell phone? The answer may depend on the […]
Read post "Can the Police Answer a Seized Cell Phone?"March 15, 2012
Yesterday, I wrote about a pair of recent cases about weaving within a lane of travel. Today, I want to mention another pair of recent cases related to automobiles. Last […]
Read post "Scope of Consent to Search a Vehicle"November 10, 2010
To be valid, consent to search must be voluntary. Is consent voluntary when given after an officer thrreatens to obtain a search warrant if consent is withheld? Generally, yes. See […]
Read post "Consent to Search under Threat of Search Warrant"June 22, 2010
It was Father’s Day this Sunday, so it’s a good time for a post about family relationships. As a jumping off point, I’ll use a case that was recently highlighted […]
Read post "Parents’ Consent to Search Childrens’ Rooms"April 22, 2010
The scope of a suspect’s consent to search is determined objectively, by “what . . . the typical reasonable person [would] have understood by the exchange between the officer and […]
Read post "Consent Searches and Outbuildings"February 11, 2010
I’ve bumped into a couple recent cases in which law enforcement officers have requested consent to search a car and have received ambiguous responses. (For a discussion of when officers […]
Read post "Do You Mind if I Search?"December 22, 2009
Note about holiday blogging schedule: Because I am certain that all of you are planning your holidays around this blog, I thought I’d mention that I’ll continue to post daily […]
Read post "Terry Frisk During a Consensual Encounter?"May 13, 2009
Most readers of this blog know (1) that a search done pursuant to consent doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment, but (2) that the scope of search is limited by the […]
Read post "Computer Searches and the Scope of Consent"