Like the police who confiscated camera phones at the BART shooting? Sounds to me like the whole barrel of them were rotten.
well, I’ll get flamed for this, but if recording devices are seized at the scene, properly logged into evidence and the images copied and stored, and the recording devices returned to their owners I don’t see any violation of the 4th and 5th amendemnts
the evidence is “reasonably seized” - remember that the fourth amendment precludes unreasonable searches and seizures. creating a proper chain of custody from the scene to the courtroom is not unreasonable. allowing the recording device to leave the scene, where the recording can be tampered with, opens up all sorts of foundational objections at trial, requiring a lot of expert testimony to show that the images haven’t been tampered with
if the recording device is returned, complete with the images in the case of a reporter or professional photographer, there is no property to be compensated (fifth amendment)
just saying, if you assume the cops are on the up and up, an immediate seizure, recordation and return of the original isn’t a violation of anyone’s rights and creates a better evidentiary chain for prosecution or administrative action (in the case of officer misconduct)
I sort of disagree with the “first amendment” attorney, since we are talking about criminal investigations and sometimes different rules apply
flame away