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OH2: SI of a cellphone was valid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search incident of a cellphone as a closed container was valid. The phone could be searched later [like clothing] under Edwards, and only the cellphone numbers and text messages between the defendant and informant were admitted. State v. Smith, 2008 Ohio 3717, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 3139 (2d Dist. July 25, 2008): [*P37] The trial court overruled Smith's motion upon the authority of United States v. Finley (C.A.5, 2007), 477 F.3d 250, certiorari denied (2007), 127 S. Ct. 2065, 167 L. Ed. 2d 790. In Finley, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the warrantless search of the defendant's cell phone on facts that closely resemble those in the present matter. The police in Finley used a cooperating source to set up a drug buy. The defendant drove the seller, Mark Brown, to the appointed location, and the drug sale was completed with the seller who was seated in the front passenger seat...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 31, 2008 (boomark / email).