State v. Mollica

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

In this case federal law-enforcement officers without a search warrant obtained hotel billing records relating to the use of an occupant’s room telephone. They then turned these records over to state law enforcement officers who, using this information, obtained search warrants and undertook a search of defendants’ hotel rooms, seizing evidence of gambling offenses. In the ensuing criminal prosecution two major issues emerged. The first is whether New Jersey’s constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure extend to hotel…