AZ: Cell phones “property” subject to probation searches

“Cell phones provide access to an immense array of private information, much of which is stored in the Cloud or on sites controlled by third parties. As such, the United States Supreme Court concluded in Riley v. California that people have uniquely broad expectations of privacy in cellphones and, therefore, a warrant is generally required to search them. 573 U.S. 373, 393-94, 401 (2014). In the wake of Riley, we are asked to decide whether Arizona’s standard conditions of probation, which permit warrantless searches of a probationer’s ‘property,’ apply to cell phones. We hold they do. We further hold that the search here was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances and therefore compliant with the Fourth Amendment.” State v. Lietzau, 2020 Ariz. LEXIS 183 (May 22, 2020. amended June 12, 2020).