When can police officers search a vehicle? When they are arresting the occupant of the vehicle. In 1981, the United States Supreme Court in the case of New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, stated "when a policeman has made a lawful custodial arrest of the occupant of an automobile, he may as a contemporaneous incident of that arrest, search the … [Read more...]
Strip Searches: The Court Of Appeals Says No, No!
Is it a common practice for police to use a search warrant to strip search every person in a location without a strong indication the place is "devoted" to criminal activity. Recently the New York State Court Of Appeals said that drugs found on one man in 2006 during a raid of an apartment in Syracuse can not be used as evidence. Robert … [Read more...]
DNA: A Case Solving Tool Or Brave New World
There are presently more than a dozen pieces of legislation pending in the New York State Legislature to expand the use of DNA material. Recently a DNA data bank was utilized by Westchester County legal authorities to match the DNA of Francisco Acevedo for the murders of three woman in Yonkers from 2009. Francisco Acevedo was arrested while … [Read more...]
Can the Police Search Your Cell Phone Without a Warrant?
In Ohio, cell phones protected by the 4th amendment's prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure by the government. In a recent decision, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that police officers need to obtain a warrant in order to search a cell phone. This decision by the Ohio Supreme Court takes into consideration the fact that cell phones … [Read more...]
