MA: Officer’s observation of text message just received on a screen of seized cell phone was admissible

Defendant was arrested after the police observed a buy and defendant fled and was arrested. Officers took his phone off of him but hadn’t searched it. While the officer was at the police station, the phone received a text message, and the officer picked up the phone and saw the text message on the screen which was about another drug deal. The phone was not searched, and the text message was admissible. Commonwealth v. Alvarez, 480 Mass. 1017 (Aug. 29, 2018):

The record before us presents a dearth of evidence concerning the cell phone. It is clear, however, that the defendant’s cell phone was seized during a valid search incident to his lawful arrest. See Commonwealth v. Mauricio, 477 Mass. 588, 592, 80 N.E.3d 318 (2017). At some point after the defendant’s cell phone was lawfully seized and the officer returned to the police station, the cell phone rang. In response, the officer glanced at the outer screen of the ringing cell phone, where he observed the text message at issue. There was no evidence that the officer opened the cell phone, manipulated it to view the text message, or otherwise perused its contents. Because the record is devoid of evidence suggesting that the officer’s observation of the outside of the defendant’s cell phone constituted a search, the defendant did not establish that a search occurred. Accordingly, within this factual vacuum, we cannot say that the judge erred in denying the motion to suppress.