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M.D.Pa.: Handing cell phone to officer to look for text message was waiver of REP

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant went to the police station to complain about threatening text messages received on his cell phone. He slid his phone through the slot in the glass to show the officer. While it was disputed whether the phone was open or closed and whether the text message was on the screen, the officer had to fumble with the phone to get the message to show. In the process, the officer stumbled upon a child pornography picture. Defendant had no expectation of privacy in the phone when he handed it over. United States v. Coates, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15436 (M.D. Pa. February 22, 2010): Finding that the cellular phone was in a closed position when Coates handed it to Officer Persing, we cannot and do not find that Coates had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the phone...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 24, 2010 (boomark / email).