Searching Cell Phones

There are a few theories for searching cell phones --

1. Search Incident to Arrest

IMO GANT permits the search of a cell phone if the arrestee is not yet handcuffed or if the cell reasonable might contain evidence related to the arrest.

2. Search Warrant

If the evidence in the cell phone might be crucial to a big case -- e.g. help to convict a murdered, you should consider obtaining a warrant to search it. I have been told that information in a cell phone can be destroyed, so if you do this you might want to take appropriate measures to protect the information.

3. Consent

Always ask for consent (for any search you do. It can never hurt and it may help a great deal if other search theories are determined to be defective).

Best -

DA