Submission + - Texas appeals court says police can't search your phone after you're jailed (arstechnica.com) 1
mpicpp writes: Looking at your texts is not like searching your pockets, judges say.
On Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that law enforcement officials do need a warrant to search an arrested person's cell phone after they've been jailed.
The ruling did not decide whether it is legal or not for police to search a suspect's phone at the incidence of arrest, which is currently a hotly contested subject. The Supreme Court is set to decide that matter later this year.
For now, however, seven Texas appeals court judges have ruled that a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy over the contents of their cell phone while the phone is being stored in the jail property room. An eighth judge wrote a dissenting opinion.
The case, Texas v. Granville, involved Anthony Granville, a student who was arrested for causing a disturbance on a school bus. After Granville was arrested, his cell phone was placed in the booking room. Later, a “School Resources Officer” was told that Granville had taken a photo of another student urinating in the boys' bathroom prior to his arrest. The officer, who had not been involved in the arrest of Granville, went down to the booking room, obtained Granville's phone, turned it on, found the photo, and printed out a copy of it. The officer then kept the phone as evidence and charged Granville with Improper Photography, a state felony.
On Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that law enforcement officials do need a warrant to search an arrested person's cell phone after they've been jailed.
The ruling did not decide whether it is legal or not for police to search a suspect's phone at the incidence of arrest, which is currently a hotly contested subject. The Supreme Court is set to decide that matter later this year.
For now, however, seven Texas appeals court judges have ruled that a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy over the contents of their cell phone while the phone is being stored in the jail property room. An eighth judge wrote a dissenting opinion.
The case, Texas v. Granville, involved Anthony Granville, a student who was arrested for causing a disturbance on a school bus. After Granville was arrested, his cell phone was placed in the booking room. Later, a “School Resources Officer” was told that Granville had taken a photo of another student urinating in the boys' bathroom prior to his arrest. The officer, who had not been involved in the arrest of Granville, went down to the booking room, obtained Granville's phone, turned it on, found the photo, and printed out a copy of it. The officer then kept the phone as evidence and charged Granville with Improper Photography, a state felony.
