New case from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals which deals with Fourth Amendment protections on vessels. The case is United States of America v. Guillermo Alfonzo Zarabozo and the original opinion can be found here.
The facts are skimpy but it appears that the defendant was a migrant smuggler rescued from a life raft. Without a warrant, law enforcement searched a backpack in the liferaft. The smuggler challenged the warrantless search.
The Eleventh Circuit said, We conclude the district court did not err in finding these facts constituted exigent circumstances supporting the FBI agent’s warrantless search of Zarabozo’s bags. Zarabozo’s bags had been exposed to massive amounts of sea water, and the district court found law enforcement had a reasonable fear that any electronic or paper evidence might be irrevocably damaged if left in that condition.
Accordingly, the district court ruled it was reasonable for agents to search Zarabozo’s bags to collect evidence in danger of immediate deterioration. We conclude the court, therefore, committed no error in admitting into evidence the items found pursuant to that search.
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