United States v. Michael Lustig

Concurrence by Judge WATFORD

OPINION

FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judge:

The United States Supreme Court held in Riley v. California, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2473, 189 L.Ed.2d 430 (2014), that the Fourth Amendment requires law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant before they may search an arrestee’s cell phone. Approximately two years before that decision, an officer arresting Michael Lustig conducted warrantless searches, incident to the arrest, of cell phones found in Lustig’s pockets. We must determine whether pre-Riley precedent provided a reasonable basis to believe such searches were constitutional.…