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N.D.Ky.: Seizure of laptop in house before warrant arrived was valid where no search until after warrant issued

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Disconnecting and seizing defendant’s laptop and moving it to the garage while awaiting a warrant was a seizure but not a search, and it was valid under Segura. The warrantless seizure was valid because it was not removed from the house until after the warrant arrived. United States v. Lamb, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19899 (N.D. Ky. January 14, 2010)*: "Different interests are implicated by a seizure than by a search." Segura v. United States, 468 U.S. 796, 806 (1984). A search affects only a person's privacy interests; while, a seizure affects only a person's possessory interests. Id. The Fourth Amendment protects against both unreasonable searches and seizures and requires probable cause for a warrant before any legal search or seizure may take place...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 09, 2010 (boomark / email).