TX1: No REP in a contraband cell phone in a halfway house

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a contraband cell phone possessed by a sex offender in a halfway house. The phone was subject to search like any other personal property, and defendant had a prohibition against possession of pornography. Child pornography was found on the cell phone in a cursory search. This search of the phone did not offend Riley. Howard v. State, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 9616 (Tex. App. – Houston (1st Dist.) Nov. 27, 2018).

After Carpenter, defendant filed a motion for new trial. “The Court agrees that Carpenter applies retroactively to her case. But the question of whether a constitutional right is retroactive is distinct from the question of whether an individual is entitled to a remedy from any constitutional violation.” Under Davis good faith, the evidence would have come in anyway. United States v. Leyva, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199327 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 26, 2018).*