If you have been arrested, you may be concerned about the possibility of the police searching and seizing your property in order to find evidence. There are Fourth Amendment issues pertaining to all police searches and seizures, and a New Hampshire criminal defense attorney may be able to help you determine if your case would be affected by any such issues.

The definition of “seizure of property” is some significant interference with an “individual’s possessory interests” in his or her property. New technology allows the police to conduct significantly enhanced inquiries into suspects’ property, and if a device allows the police to obtain information about the interior of a residence, it most likely constitutes a search under the law. There are other factors that determine whether it is a search, such as whether the technology is available to the general public, and whether the use of the device results in information that could not otherwise be found without physically entering the home.

Previously, the law used to regard most technologies by analogizing them to simpler, physical devices, such as thinking of computers as filing cabinets, or GPS devices as beepers. However, recently state legislatures and courts have found that modern technology is qualitatively different from those physical analogies in its ability to monitor and record a person’s activities and movements. Some states have deemed the use of GPS on a car as a search that requires a warrant.

If you have further questions about what constitutes a search and seizure, contact New Hampshire criminal defense attorney Sven Wiberg at 603-686-5454.