Smartphones and the Fourth Amendment
The biggest tattletale in your second-grade class made sure that the teacher and all the students knew if anyone cheated at a game, picked their nose, or cut in front of someone else while waiting in line. The Internet-enabled device in your pocket, the one that you take with you everywhere, is an exponentially more effective snitch than even the most determined tattletale in the whole school. It knows where you were, what you said, and what you saw, and its algorithms can guess your motivations for going where you went and doing what you did. Evidence from smartphones has become an important part of many criminal investigators; law enforcement has confiscated smartphones to corroborate tips from online content moderators about illegal activities such as drug trafficking or the exchange of child exploitative images. Under certain circumstances, you can get criminal charges for tampering with evidence if you delete apps or files from your devices. Of course, the Fourth Amendment protects you against the illegal search and seizure of your property, including smartphones and other personal electronic devices. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains the role of smartphones as evidence in criminal cases and the circumstances under which law enforcement may demand access to them.
A Supreme Court Ruling Related to Fourth Amendment Rights in the Age of Smartphones
The Supreme Court ruling that forms the basis of Florida’s laws on cell phone searches by law enforcement is Riley v. California, a decision issued in 2014. In this decision, the court ruled that the average person’s smartphone, which is almost always present during interactions with police, contains a wealth of private information protected by the Fourth Amendment. Imagine what a nightmare it would be if the police decided that, because your car smelled like weed, they had the right to open every app on your phone and read every text message you had ever exchanged with anyone.
Pursuant to Riley, they cannot; the contents of a smartphone are not in the same category as the contents of a vehicle. If your car smells like weed, a K9 can sniff around until it finds a pencil case full of counterfeit oxycodone pills. Even the most perceptive K9 cannot smell cryptocurrency transactions of suspicious origin or flirtatious messages to someone you seem to believe is underage. Police cannot look for the latter kind of information unless they have a warrant; these investigations begin when a bank reports suspicious activity or a teen’s mother calls police because she believes that an adult has been exchanging inappropriate messages with her daughter. They do not arise because someone runs a red light and smells like weed.
When Do Police Have the Right to Search Your Phone?
According to Florida law, police cannot scroll through your phone or open apps without a warrant, not even during an arrest. In general, law enforcement may not search your property without a warrant, but there are some exceptions during arrests and traffic stops. In these situations, police may search the immediate vicinity of the suspect to look for evidence of the specific crimes for which they are arresting you because they have probable cause to do so; for example, if they are arresting you on suspicion of drug possession, they can look for drugs and drug paraphernalia in your car. If your phone is in plain view, they can look at what is currently on the screen. If your phone is open to What’s App, where a conversation is visible, the police can read the messages that are on the screen. If your friend texted you, “Do you have the Xanax?” and you replied, “I’m bringing it now,” this constitutes incriminating evidence.
During a traffic stop, police might ask you if you consent to a search of the contents of your phone. Remember that you have the right to refuse consent. If police search your phone without your consent, or if they only obtain your consent through intimidation or deceit, you have the right to suppress the evidence that they found through the illegal search. If they had the right to look at some of the pieces of information they found on your phone but not others, then you can challenge the pieces of information that the police did not have the right to access.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges because of evidence that police found on your phone. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/373/
