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 alleged any prejudice due to the delay.  A search warrant for a cellphone will be upheld despite inclusion in the warrant of illegally seized information so long as probable cause continues to exist after excising the illegally obtained information and the evidence supports a finding that the police subjectively would have sought the warrant even without the illegal conduct.  Questioning of an in-custody suspect under circumstances where the police are reasonably unaware that defendant’s responses might elicit incriminating information is not an interrogation and does not require a Miranda admonishment or waiver.

In April, 2015, defendant Jamell Tousant’s son (Tousant, Jr.) was shot and killed in a gang related ambush, in the City of Oakland. The motive for Tousant Jr.’s murder ....