CA11: Warrantless cell phone search was harmless based on all the wiretap evidence linking def to Mexican meth cartel

In a Mexican cartel case backed up by wiretaps, defendant was arrested at home with only an arrest warrant. When he was getting dressed to leave for jail, his pants were searched and a set of keys were removed and taken by police. He asked about his cell phones, and the police took them. In light of the evidence of guilt, the seizure of the cell phones and later search was harmless error. United States v. Moreno, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 5625 (11th Cir. March 27, 2014).

Defendant was stopped with another for riding their bicycles backwards and forwards in the center of the street after a police car turned the corner and almost ran into them. Officers were just going to talk to them, not arrest them. “The defendant approached the officers and said, ‘Do you want to talk to me? This is all I have.’ At that point, the defendant opened his hand and showed the officers two pills. The officers stated that the pills appeared to be Xanax.” The arrest was valid. State v. Everett, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 834 (La.App. 4 Cir. March 26, 2014).*

The parole officers had reasonable suspicion for a search. United States v. Kyle, 554 Fed. Appx. 624 (9th Cir. 2014).*