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D.Mass.: SI of cell phone only for its IMSI number printed under battery was reasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search incident of a cell phone just to recover its IMSI number from the battery compartment was valid. This is far distinguishable from getting data off the phone. United States v. Green, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139437 (D. Mass. January 11, 2010): Green next argues that even if the seizure of the cell phones were justified, the opening of the phones and the removal of the batteries to acquire the IMSI numbers weeks later amounted to a “search” for which a warrant was required. Here, the intrusion caused by the inspection was minimal. It is important to note that the agent did not turn the phones on, nor did he access the data stored in the phones, such as address books, text message histories, photographs, or emails. Compare, e...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 13, 2011 (boomark / email).