Can a SW issue for a cell phone in any drug case? We’re just about there because so many cases assume there is PC in such cases. This one Georgia

The affidavit for defendant’s cell phone in this drug case showed probable cause to search it [without a word about the phone and the crime]. Glispie v. State, 2016 Ga. LEXIS 736 (Nov. 7, 2016):

Here, the magistrate had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed to issue the search warrant for Glispie’s cell phone. The warrant application was written by Welch, a Rockdale County police officer with over eight years of experience, whose duties, in part, included investigating narcotics crimes. Welch stated he had reason to believe the cell phone contained information related to a violation of OCGA § 16-13-30 (b) in light of the various circumstances listed in the warrant application, including descriptions of a man matching Glispie’s description fleeing after a traffic stop, Glispie’s physical resistance to arrest, and Glispie’s arrest. More importantly, the warrant application stated that police recovered a large amount of crack cocaine, some capsules containing a white powdery substance, $165 in small cash denominations, two cell phones, and a “razor blade with white powdery residue” from Glispie’s possession as part of a lawful search incident to arrest. “[T]he test for probable cause is not a hypertechnical one to be employed by legal technicans, but is based on the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men act.” (Punctuation omitted.) Smith v. State, 296 Ga. 731, 734 (2) (a) (770 SE2d 610) (2015). In light of the facts and circumstances detailed in the search warrant application, it was reasonable for the magistrate to infer that the cell phones in Glispie’s possession at the time of his arrest were used as communicative devices with third parties for drug deals. Thus, there was a legally sufficient basis for the magistrate to issue a search warrant for the cell phones in Glispie’s possession.