AL: Search incident of cell phone reasonable

Following California’s Diaz and the clear majority of jurisdictions, the search incident of defendant’s cell phone was reasonable. Gracie v. State, 2011 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 123 (December 16, 2011):

We agree with the majority of jurisdictions surveyed that a warrantless search of a defendant’s cellular telephone following his arrest does not violate Fourth Amendment principles; we are not persuaded by the rationale in Smith that a cellular telephone may not be searched incident to a lawful arrest without first obtaining a warrant because the cellular telephone is not a container. In the instant case, the record indicates that Detective Soronen saw Gracie using a cellular telephone after the robbery. After placing Gracie under arrest, Detective Soronen searched the call log and text messages contained in Gracie’s cellular telephone to determine if Gracie had an accomplice. The cellular telephone was immediately associated with Gracie’s person, and pursuant to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Robinson, Detective Soronen was permitted to inspect the cellular telephone. 414 U.S. at 236. Accordingly, the warrantless search of Gracie’s cellular telephone following Gracie’s arrest did not violate Fourth Amendment principles, and the circuit court did not err in denying Gracie’s motion to suppress the text message seized pursuant to Detective Soronen’s search of Gracie’s cellular telephone.