Warrantless Searches of Vehicles; Searching Cellphones; Questioning In-Custody Witnesses

• Warrantless Vehicle Searches and the Automobile Exception
• Seizure of Relevant Evidence in Plain Sight
• Searches of Cellphones, With and Without a Search Warrant
• Miranda and the Questioning of an In-Custody Suspect
• Interrogation vs. Questioning

The “Automobile Exception” being one of the recognized exceptions to the search warrant requirement, a search of a vehicle without a warrant is lawful whenever there is probable cause to believe a vehicle contains evidence of criminal activity or contraband.  It is reasonable to expect that incriminating information will be found in a cellphone seized from a vehicle at the scene of a recent crime. A 15-day delay between seizure of a cellphone and searching it with a warrant is not unreasonable where the defendant neither demanded the return of his cellphone nor ....