[freedumb2003]

>>It’s legal to fiddle around with a corpse?<<

I disagree that what they did was legal. The moment the guy died all his possessions legally passed to his estate. They were NOT “unowned” at that moment and the cops needed a search warrant FROM THE HEIRS before attempting to crack it. Since their heirs were NOT participants in the alleged crime at hand this was a violation of the 4A.

IMHO.

[Edward.Fish]

I disagree that what they did was legal. The moment the guy died all his possessions legally passed to his estate. They were NOT “unowned” at that moment and the cops needed a search warrant FROM THE HEIRS before attempting to crack it. Since their heirs were NOT participants in the alleged crime at hand this was a violation of the 4A.

Ah! But more than this, even if the heirs were completely complicit the requirement for a warrant is absolute.
(In fact, I would tend to argue that any search without a warrant is, by definition, unreasonable.)