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WV: Cell phone seized under SW for car needs no separate SW to search it

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Having searched a car and seizing evidence under a search warrant, a separate search warrant is not required to search a cell phone that was properly seized as evidence of a crime under the warrant. State v. White, 2011 W. Va. LEXIS 4 (February 10, 2011): ... Instead, the question that must be answered to resolve this issue is whether a separate search warrant is required to examine the contents of items seized in the execution of a valid search warrant. The United States Supreme Court touched on this issue in the case of United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 102 S. Ct. 2157, 72 L. Ed. 2d 572 (1982). In Ross, the Supreme Court explained that [a] lawful search of fixed premises generally extends to the entire area in which the object of the search may be found and is not limited by the possibility that separate acts of entry or opening may be required to complete the search...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 21, 2011 (boomark / email).