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Digital Evidence Cases and the Plain View Doctrine: A New Judicial Twist at the 9th Circuit Rehearing of the MLB (Major League Baseball) Drug Case

By Andis Kaulins

At Wired.com, David Kravets at Threat Level reports in Appeals Court Guts Landmark Computer-Privacy Ruling that the 9th Circuit rehearing of the Major League Baseball (MLB) drug case has resulted in a substantial legal shift from the ridiculous standard that court had pronounced a year ago concerning law enforcement rights to make computer searches under a search warrant.

That original opinion would have required federal officers to perhaps use "independent" third parties to comb through computer hard drives for the information sought, rather than for the feds to go on "fishing" expeditions on computer hard drives themselves. The new ruling still excludes the evidence in question in the MLB case, but "omits detailed guidance" on how judicial officers are to strike the right balance of reasonableness in their searches.

Full post as published by LawPundit on September 21, 2010 (boomark / email).