Police Need ‘Particularized Evidence’ to Seize Electronic Devices Without a Search Warrant and Must Diligently Apply for a Warrant After the Seizure
In Commonwealth v. White, 475 Mass. 583, 59 N.E.3d 369 (2016), a Boston police detective investigated an armed robbery and shooting at a convenience store. His investigation led him to the defendant as one of the suspects. Visiting the defendant’s high school, the detective learned from one of the administrators that, under the school’s policy, she was holding the defendant’s cell phone. At the time,