In CITY OF ONTARIO v. QUON, No. 08-1332 (Jun. 17, 2010), a chief of police searched the contents of pager messages sent by a police officer on a city-issued pager. On narrow grounds, Court held that the search was reasonable because it was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose and was not excessive in scope. There were reasonable grounds for finding the search necessary for a non-investigatory work-related purpose in that the police chief had ordered an audit to determine whether a character limit in the contract with the pager company was sufficient to meet the city's needs. The search was also reasonably related to the objectives of the search because both the city and police department had a legitimate interest in ensuring that employees were not being forced to pay out of their own pockets for work-related expenses, or, on the other hand, that the city was not paying for extensive personal communications. Reviewing the transcripts of the messages was an efficient and expedient way to determine whether either of these factors caused overages. The Court did not resolve the larger question of the extent of the privacy expectation of the officer.
In ROSA v. STATE, No. 2D08-4061 (Fla. 2d DCA Jun. 18, 2010), the court held that a defendant who kills a child during the perpetration of the crime of aggravated child abuse may be charged and convicted of both aggravated child abuse and felony murder. The court certified the question to the Florida Supreme Court.
In CMI v. LANDRUM, No. 2D09-5502 (Fla. 2d DCA Jun 18, 2010), the court held that CMI, Inc., the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test machine, was required to produce the computer code that controls the machine for examination by a defendant in a DUI case. The court reasoned that CMI, a Kentucky corporation doing business in Florida, was not an out-of-state witness for the purpose of §§ 942.01-.06 Florida Statutes (the "Uniform Act to Secure the Attendance of Witnesses from Without a State in Criminal Proceedings") because the properly-served subpoena deuces tecum sought only the production of documents. The subpoena did not seek testimony from any witnesses, out-of-state or otherwise. Congratulations to Robert Harrison, Esq., for this accomplishment in the most recent round in a long and difficult battle.
