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Statev.Wilson

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S22A0967
DecidedFebruary 21, 2023
Reporter315 Ga. 613; 884 S.E.2d 298; 2023 Ga. LEXIS 36
JudgesCOLVIN, Justice. All Justices concur except LaGrua, J., who concurs in judgment only. Peterson, P. J., concurring, joined by Boggs, C. J., Warren, Bethel, Colvin, and Pinson, JJ. Pinson, J., concurring, joined by Boggs, C. J., and Warren, J.
Tags
CriminalFourth AmendmentCell Phone SearchSearch Warrant ParticularityGeneral WarrantMotion to SuppressMurder InvestigationTales From the CryptMurder & MayhemBodies, Burials & Blood EvidenceCorruption & Concealment
Case Summary

After Bradly Jordan was shot and killed, officers arrested Roceam Wilson and seized two phones from his van. A warrant authorized forensic examination of “any and all” stored data, including deleted information, while checked form boxes said the data related to the homicide. Before trial, the court suppressed the phone evidence as an overbroad general search, and the State appealed. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed because the warrant gave no meaningful limits on the data officers could search or seize; the boilerplate boxes did not narrow its sweeping authorization. The Court pretermitted whether the affidavit established probable cause and rejected the State’s good-faith argument because existing precedent supported suppression. Peterson’s concurrence warned that boilerplate cannot rescue a warrant that otherwise lacks particularity. Pinson’s concurrence emphasized cell phones’ uniquely broad privacy implications and the need to account for them when applying the Fourth Amendment. LaGrua concurred only in the judgment, finding the affidavit’s probable-cause link between the phones and crime inadequate.

Opinion

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