Generally speaking, the police may only take your laptop, hard drive, or other personal property if they have a warrant in Utah. Even though there are some circumstances where law enforcement may not need a warrant, call our lawyers if your property was seized without a warrant.
Do not give police permission to search your property or take your laptop, hard drive, phone, or any other device, even if you assume doing so will exonerate you. Unless exigent circumstances applied or the laptop with incriminating evidence was in plain view when the police officer was lawfully present on your property, any laptops seized without a warrant may be inadmissible. Even if law enforcement legally takes a hard drive or laptop without a warrant, they will still typically need a warrant to view the contents of the device. If evidence is obtained through a legal search and is admissible against you, reach out to our lawyers for help preparing a defense or negotiating a plea deal.
For a free case review from our Salt Lake City, UT criminal defense lawyers, call Overson & Bugden at (801) 758-2287 today.
When Can the Police Take My Laptop or Hard Drive in Utah?
Utah only lets the police take your personal belongings, like electronic devices, under very specific circumstances, which our lawyers can explain after taking on your case.
If They Have a Warrant
Generally speaking, police officers must have a warrant to take your laptop or hard drive in Utah. This is because of your Fourth Amendment right against unlawful search or seizure, and Utah Code § 77-23c-102. Utah typically requires a warrant based on probable cause for law enforcement to obtain any location information, transmitted data, or stored data. They may also need a separate warrant to view the contents of a hard drive, computer, laptop, or phone.
Law enforcement cannot get a warrant to take your laptop, hard drive, or other personal belongings without probable cause. A judge must grant a warrant, and law enforcement must follow the warrant’s limitations.
If You Give Consent
If you give “informed, affirmative consent,” police officers may take your laptop or hard drive without a warrant. Never agree to giving your personal electronic devices or other belongings to law enforcement. Always ask to see a warrant and what’s included in it, and do not let police convince you that providing your devices would exonerate you.
If the Automobile Exception Applies
The automobile exception lets police officers search a vehicle without a warrant if they have probable cause.
If it is in Plain View
If law enforcement is lawfully present on your property and evidence of a crime is in plain view, they may seize it without a warrant, but may not search it. A laptop or other piece of personal property resembling an item described by a victim, or a computer with incriminating information visible on the screen, might be seized if it is in plain view.
This exception to the need for a search warrant is uncommon for crimes involving hard drives or laptops, and more common for drug or weapons offenses.
While law enforcement may be able to seize a laptop that is in plain view, they cannot search the laptop without a warrant.
If Exigent Circumstances Apply
Exigent circumstances might also allow law enforcement to take your hard drive or laptop without a warrant in Utah. The following are examples of exigent circumstances:
- The laptop, hard drive, or other electronic evidence will be imminently destroyed
- There’s an active threat to public safety
- The suspect may flee before the police can get a search warrant
Even if exigent circumstances applied for law enforcement to seize a laptop or hard drive, they still need a warrant to search the device. If law enforcement does not get a warrant and searches the device anyway, evidence found on the laptop or hard drive might be inadmissible. Let us motion to dismiss the evidence that was illegally seized or searched. If that is all the evidence the prosecution has against you, it may be forced to drop the charges.
What if the Police Take Your Laptop or Hard Drive without a Warrant?
Call us right away if the police took your laptop, hard drive, computer, tablet, phone, or any other electronic device without getting a warrant, having your permission, or meeting one of the other exceptions to needing a warrant in Utah.
The sooner you involve us, the more likely we may stop law enforcement from viewing the full contents of a laptop or hard drive before they can get a warrant to do so, so don’t wait if the police illegally searched you and seized your property.
You should document everything that has to do with law enforcement illegally taking your personal electronic devices. Write down anything you remember police officers saying, including if they stated why they were taking your belongings. Note where the matter took place, like your office or home, as well as the date and time.
If police officers also arrest you while seizing your laptop, do not resist. Also, do not say anything that might jeopardize your defense. Even if you think you are clarifying things for law enforcement, you might misspeak and hurt your chances in court if the charges make it to trial.
Tell us everything you can remember about law enforcement taking your property, and we can explain to the judge why any data found on your devices should be inadmissible, stopping the jury from seeing it.
What if the Police Legally Take Your Laptop or Hard Drive in Utah?
If the police obtain electronic devices through a lawful search, getting such evidence suppressed is more challenging. Sometimes, content or correspondence stored on laptops and other devices simply requires more context, which our Park City, UT criminal defense lawyers can provide for the jury. Other times, incriminating evidence on laptops is very damaging, though our attorneys may still negotiate favorable plea deals with the prosecution.
Be honest with our lawyers about the charges and give us any information that we may use as leverage during plea deal negotiations. Also, tell us if someone else had access to your laptop or hard drive, or if the device did not belong to you at all, but to a roommate.
We may also undermine the integrity of digital evidence that may have been altered, had chain of custody issues, or that was subject to poor digital forensics.
Call Us in Utah for Help with Your Criminal Case
For a free case evaluation from the Provo, UT criminal defense lawyers of Overson & Bugden, call (801) 758-2287.