The ACLU-NJ submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in a case where the police searched a home without a warrant based on information they had from a robbery victim’s “Find My iPhone” application. Using the app, the police located the home indicated on the map, looked through a first floor window, and saw the case the phone owner had described. When no one answered their knock, officers found an unsecured window and entered the house. The trial court judge found, and the Appellate Division agreed, that the police acted reasonably when they entered the home without a warrant. The ACLU-NJ’s brief argues that there were no exigent circumstances in this case that justified an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that the police obtain a warrant before entering a home.

Date filed

May 1, 2017

Court

New Jersey Supreme Court

Status

Closed