NE: Expansive SW for cell phone in a shooting case with multiple participants was reasonable

The search warrant for defendant’s cell phone was expansive, but it was evidence in a shooting case where defendant and others were involved. Moreover, the good faith exception applied. State v. Goynes, 303 Neb. 129 (May 17, 2019):

The county court used the list sought by Cahill and restated these types of data in the warrant as the areas permitted to be searched. From the facts surrounding the shooting and Cahill’s explanation of the areas in the cell phone he was seeking to search, the court had a substantial basis to find probable cause that evidence relevant to the shooting was accessible data in the areas listed.

Goynes argues the scope of the search authorized in the warrant was too broad and was similar to warrants we determined did not meet the particularity requirement in Henderson. Goynes contends that the areas which the warrant permitted to be searched encompassed the entirety of the data contained within the cell phone and that Henderson condemns the allowance of such a search of “‘any and all'” information stored on a cell phone.

However, Henderson does not stand for the rule that a search of a cell phone cannot be expansive; instead, we held that the unlimited search of the cell phone in that case did not align with the justifying probable cause. The Henderson warrants failed to refer to a specific crime being investigated. In addition, while the warrants in Henderson listed types of cell phone data to search, such as calls and text messages, they also authorized a search of “‘any other information that can be gained from the internal components and/or memory Cards.'” …