The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether warrantless searches by police of the contents of cell phones violate the Constitution.
The justices granted review in two closely watched cases: Riley v. California, stemming from a decision by the California Court of Appeal, and U.S. v. Wurie, an appeal from a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
David Leon Riley's case arose from a police stop in 2009 because he was driving with expired tags. His car was impounded by the police after they discovered he also was driving with a suspended license. During an inventory search of his car by police, concealed weapons were discovered and Riley was arrested and his smart phone was confiscated.
The phone was a Samsung Instinct M800 "smart phone" – a touch-screen device designed to compete with Apple’s iPhone, capable of accessing the internet, capturing photos and videos, and storing both voice and text messages, among other functions. During two separate warrantless searches of Riley's phone, the police discovered evidence of his connection to a gang and to a recent gang shooting. He was convicted for his role in the gang shooting. On appeal, he argued that the cell phone search violated the Fourth Amendment's ban on reasonable searches and seizures. The California Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, and the state high court declined to review his case.
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