United States v. Molina-Isidoro, No. 17-50070 (5th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Fifth Circuit declined defendant's invitation to announce general rules concerning the application of the government's historically broad border-search authority to modern technology for which the Supreme Court has recognized increased privacy interests. The court held that the nonforensic search of defendant's cell phone at the border was supported by probable cause and thus, at a minimum, the border patrol agents had a good-faith basis for believing the search did not run afoul of the Fourth Amendment. Accordingly, the court affirmed defendants' drug-related conviction and sentence.
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