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CO: Search of mislaid iPhone invalid where owner was coming back for it

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

An officer could not search a mislaid iPhone under the excuse that it was to find who the owner was since it was undisputed that the owner was coming back for it. People v. Schutter, 2011 Colo. LEXIS 246 (March 28, 2011): We need not here decide whether, and if so, to what extent, police officers may conduct a warrantless examination of property that has been lost or mislaid but not abandoned. Under the undisputed facts of this case, the defendant’s iPhone was neither abandoned, lost, nor mislaid such that the Aspen police would have had any cause to identify the owner to return it. Whether or not he knew the defendant’s name, Officer Burg was aware from the moment the iPhone came into his possession that the defendant inadvertently left it in the store’s locked restroom and knew precisely where it was; that his immediate demand for its return had been refused by the store clerk, who controlled access to the restroom; and that he left the area only when he was told by the clerk that he would have to come back later to retrieve his phone...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 30, 2011 (boomark / email).