Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

2012 Case Law Year-In-Review

January 3, 2013 Josh Gilliland Civil Procedure, Duty to Preserve, e-Discovery, Predictive Coding, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, Search Terms, Social Networking, Stored Communications Act, Twitter

2012 eDiscovery Case Law included everything from Tweets to Computer-Assisted Review. However, there was also a very basic theme that is hard to ignore: Cases should be about the merits. And for cases to be decided on the merits, attorneys need to educate themselves on electronic discovery so they know[…]

How to Exclude an Expert Who Says There is No Expectation of Online Privacy

August 3, 2011 Josh Gilliland Privacy, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, Stored Communications Act

A Plaintiff successfully excluded the Defendant’s testifying expert whose opinion was that “no one, including Plaintiffs, has a reasonable expectation of privacy in Internet communications.” Clements-Jeffrey v. City of Springfield, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81898, 2-3; 10 (S.D. Ohio July 27, 2011). The case involved the theft of a laptop. […]

Not As Sticky as Syrup: Searching IP Addresses in Vermont Without a Warrant

June 30, 2011 Josh Gilliland Criminal Procedure, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

Vermont: Personally important because it is the State where I get many of my bow ties (along with the ones for the high school mock trial team I coach). Vermont is legally relevant because it is the land of a state Supreme Court decision on whether you have a legitimate[…]

An iPhone Left in a Locked Bathroom is Not “Abandoned” under the 4th Amendment

April 11, 2011 Josh Gilliland iPhone, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, Text Messages

Given the number of iPhones sold, it is no surprise to see a case like People v. Schutter. The Defendant had left his iPhone in a locked convenient store bathroom. When the Defendant went back to the store to get the phone, the store clerk refused, because the clerk was[…]

Dawn in Oceania: The 9th Circuit’s Assault on the 4th Amendment

September 10, 2010 Josh Gilliland Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

Bad Laws are the worst sort of tyranny. Edmund Burke The denial of the petition for the en banc rehearing of U.S. v Pineda-Moreno by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit should make Lady Justice scream for review by the United States Supreme Court. U.S. v Pineda-Moreno 2010[…]

A Handshake Deal That Created Confidential Communications from a Work Computer

August 2, 2010 Josh Gilliland e-Discovery, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

Shanahan v. Superior Court, is an unpublished California opinion that furthers the story of confidential communications sent from a business computer. Shanahan v. Superior Court, 2010 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5756 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. July 21, 2010) Privacy at Work…Literally and Figuratively Privacy interests originating from electronically stored information created at[…]

The Low Speed Chase that Gives Us Admissible Cell Phone Photo after a Warrantless Search

January 12, 2010 Josh Gilliland Criminal Procedure, Discovery, Duty to Preserve, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, Spoliation, Text Messages

A police officer stopped a car driving with a flat tire, cracked windshield and its bright lights on. People v. Gorostiza, 2009 Cal. App. Unpub. Lexis 9494 at *1. The passengers might have been hoping, “There is nothing to see here.” After stopping the car with the Defendant and two passengers,[…]

No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Abandoned CD’s

January 10, 2010 Josh Gilliland Criminal Procedure, Discovery, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

A criminal defendant was convicted of possession of child pornography, based on CD’s and other media he left after vacating an apartment. The Supreme Court of New Hampshire found he had no expectation of privacy in the abandoned media and that the search of the media was proper. State v.[…]

Don’t Text & Drive…but Can the Police Search Your Cell Phone at the Traffic Stop?

November 11, 2009 Josh Gilliland Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, Text Messages

“The plaintiffs have not explained why the City of Chicago had no authority to enact legislation designed to protect the safety of its roads in this way, nor can we think of any restriction on its powers under either federal or state law that is so obvious we would need[…]

Private Eyes, and the California Supreme Court, are Watching You!

August 5, 2009 Josh Gilliland Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

The California Supreme Court, probably counting down until they have to decide cases regarding the new Electronic Discovery Act, weighed in with a case that will make people shake their heads and feel uncomfortable. The Defendants ran a non-profit residential facility for neglected and abused children. The Plaintiffs worked for[…]