Second Circuit holds that search of an SD card inserted in a cell phone was authorized by a warrant to search the cell phone.

In United States v. Tompkins, No. 22-599 (2d Cir. Sept. 23, 2024)(Livingston, Menashi and Kahn), U.S. Marshalls obtained a warrant to search the defendant’s cell phone for evidence of his failure to register as a sex offender. They arrested him and took his cell phone to search it, but could not open it without the pin number. The found an SD card inserted into the back of the phone and searched that, finding child pornography. They obtained another warrant to search for child pornography, searched again, and found more child pornography on the SD card. Tomkins argued that the warrant did not authorize a search of the cell phone because it did not include the SD among the property to be searched. The Circuit disagreed, holding that the SD card was covered by the warrant’s language, in the “information” to be searched section, “including any form of computer storage (such as flash memory or other media that can store data).