State v. Hill

The officer's act of placing an emergency call from a phone the defendant left in the back of taxi cab when he fled without paying and obtaining the defendant's name, date of birth and phone number from a 911 dispatcher did not constitute a search under the Fourth Amendment.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

This case involves allegations that James Brandon Hill committed misdemeanor theft of services in violation of OCGA § 16-8-5 when he fled without paying a fare owed to a taxi cab driver. The investigating officer found a cellular phone in the back of the taxi cab and, by placing an emergency call from the phone, determined that it belonged to Hill. In a motion to suppress, Hill argued that this constituted an illegal search of his phone in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The trial court granted Hill’s motion, and the state appeals. Because Hill had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the information at issue – his own name, date of birth, and phone number – we agree with the state there was no search under the Fourth Amendment, and accordingly we reverse. In light of this conclusion, we do not address the issue of whether Hill abandoned the phone.

The evidence in this case is not in dispute, and we review de novo the trial court’s application of law to the undisputed facts. See Hughes v. State, 296 Ga. 744, 750 2 770 SE2d 636 2015. A law enforcement officer, who was the only witness at the hearing on Hill’s motion to suppress, testified that on June 1, 2014, he investigated a taxi cab driver’s claim that a man had fled without paying his cab fare. The man who fled had left a cellular phone in the backseat of the cab. The officer turned on the phone but a passcode prevented him from accessing any data contained therein. The officer, however, was able to place an emergency call from the phone, and from that call a 911 dispatcher provided him with the number assigned to the phone and with Hill’s name and date of birth.

State v. Hill

The officer's act of placing an emergency call from a phone the defendant left in the back of taxi cab when he fled without paying and obtaining the defendant's name, date of birth and phone number from a 911 dispatcher did not constitute a search under the Fourth Amendment.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report