State v. Brown

JUSTICE FEW :

In this appeal we address whether the digital information stored on a cell phone may be abandoned such that its privacy is no longer protected by the Fourth Amendment. The trial court determined the information on the cell phone in this case had been abandoned, and admitted it into evidence. A divided panel of the court of appeals affirmed. State v. Brown , 414 S.C. 14 , 776 S.E.2d 917 (Ct. App. 2015). We affirm the court of appeals.

I. Facts and Procedural History

On December 22, 2011, one of the victims and his girlfriend returned from dinner to his condominium on James Island in…