NewsObserver.com: Case on 'bra-lift search' goes to N.C. Supreme Court by Martha Waggoner:

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments involving a student at an alternative school in Brunswick County who had to untuck her shirt and pull out her bra with her thumb as part of a search for pills.

The attorney who represents the student will argue that search in front of two men violated constitutional guarantees involving unwarranted searches.

Attorney Geeta Kapur said she believes the court's ruling will apply to all public school students, about 1.5 million of them, and not just those in alternative schools.

The case involves a 15-year-old who attended Brunswick County Academy, a school for at-risk children.

A warrant for child pornography on defendant’s computer was based on probable cause from a report from a user who saw it. The warrant was to “seize,” and that included “search.” United States v. Evers, 669 F.3d 645, 2012 FED App. 0042P (6th Cir. 2012):

The federal courts are in agreement that a warrant authorizing the seizure of a defendant’s home computer equipment and digital media for a subsequent off-site electronic search is not unreasonable or overbroad, as long as the probable-cause showing in the warrant application and affidavit demonstrate a “sufficient chance of finding some needles in the computer haystack.” Upham, 168 F.3d at 535; see also United States v. Grimmett, 439 F.3d 1263, 1268-70 (10th Cir. 2006) (holding that a warrant for the search of “any and all” computer hardware and software for child pornography authorized both the seizure and subsequent search of the defendant’s computer files); Guest, 255 F.3d at 335 (“Because of the technical difficulties of conducting a computer search in a suspect’s home, the seizure of the computers, including their content, was reasonable in [this] case[] to allow police to locate the offending files.”); Upham, 168 F.3d at 535 (“As a practical matter, the seizure and subsequent off-premises search of the computer ... was about the narrowest definable search and seizure reasonably likely to obtain the images [of the child pornography sought].”).

Moreover, a second warrant to search a properly seized computer is not necessary “where the evidence obtained in the search did not exceed the probable cause articulated in the original warrant.” Richards, 659 F.3d at 539 n.10 (citing United States v. Gregoire, 638 F.3d 962, 967-68 (8th Cir. 2011); Grimmett, 439 F.3d at 1268-69; Upham, 168 F.3d at 535; and United States v. Simpson, 152 F.3d 1241, 1248 (10th Cir. 1998)). This is in keeping with the general principle that “even evidence not described in a search warrant may be seized if it is reasonably related to the offense which formed the basis for the search warrant.” United States v. Wright, 343 F.3d 849, 863 (6th Cir. 2003) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); see also United States v. Henson, 848 F.2d 1374, 1383 (6th Cir. 1988) (“A search does not become invalid merely because some items not covered by a warrant are seized.”).

Defendant was convulsing in a motel room, and the other person asked whether he should call 911. He said “Yes, I don’t want to die.” EMTs and a police officer arrived, and the police officer was looking around for what could have caused defendant’s condition. He looked in a backpack and found an unlabeled pill bottle with a powder in it. After defendant was taken to the hospital, police came back with a warrant. The warrant was lawfully issued because the search of the backpack was reasonable as an emergency search to attempt to find the cause of defendant’s condition. Owens v. State, 2012 WY 14, 269 P.3d 1093 (2012).

Defendant was a passenger in a car stopped by the police. He removed a package of drugs from his backpack and put it on the seat. He lacked standing to challenge the finding of the drugs he took out. United States v. Love, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16245 (E.D. Mo. February 9, 2012)*:

As a passenger in the Altima, Defendant had no expectation of privacy. US v. Green, 442 F.3d 677, 680. While Defendant argues that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of his backpack, Defendant completely ignores the fact that the package of heroin was no longer protected by contours of privacy he may have had in his backpack by his acts of removing the package from the backpack and placing it in the seat compartment.

The officer had reasonable suspicion and conducted a patdown for “officer safety,” and he testified that he almost always has the suspect remove his shoes as a part of the patdown. Here, the patdown produced a baggy of marijuana, and the patdown was not for officer safety. It was a full scale search incident. State v. Minyoung, 2012 Ohio 411, 2012 Ohio App. LEXIS 367 (3d Dist. February 6, 2012).

The arrest warrant for the defendant was based on a failure to appear on the sworn affidavit of the judge presiding in the failure to appear case. There was no affidavit. The police officers’ entry into his house on that warrant was void. State v. Sandusky, 2012 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 75 (February 8, 2012). [Note there was no discussion of good faith.]