TX14: Exigency permitted seizure of cell phone where officer thought def was deleting things from it anticipating its search

The officer was justified in seizing defendant’s cell phone when there was probable cause and it appeared that defendant might be deleting things from it. Also, no great detail required to identify a cell phone for a search warrant. Gutierrez v. State, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 7316 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) Aug. 20, 2019):

Attacking the existence of probable cause, appellant focuses on the lack of a description of the phone provided to the detective other than “Robert’s phone.” Appellant cites no authority to suggest that a police officer must know the make, model, or other description of a phone before seizing it. Nor does appellant cite any case to suggest that the officer must know for certain that the object seized was the one containing evidence of a crime.