NY4: Search of cell phone for texts led to SW; not inevitable discovery because SW sought because of illegal search

Defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights in his cell phone text messages were violated by the police searching them without a warrant. The fact they got a warrant later didn’t help them because that was the only reason to search the phone, so no inevitable discovery. On this record, however, the error is harmless. People v. Burdine, 2017 NY Slip Op 01055, 2017 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1070 (4th Dept. Feb. 10, 2017).

Defendant was encountered in a motel parking lot and told by the police they wanted to do an administrative probation search of his motel room after they saw hypodermic needles in his car door. Defendant backed up to his car and reached behind his back and tossed a gun in the car. His move was obvious to the police, and the gun was in plain view. He was not seized at the moment he tossed the gun. Carello v. State, 2017 Del. LEXIS 55 (Feb. 8, 2017).*