Citizens Overseas Can Be Searched Without Warrant, Court Rules
Evidence acquired in a warrantless search of an American citizen overseas may be admitted in a court here, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit of Appeals ruled in the case of three followers of Osama bin Laden convicted in a conspiracy that included the bombing of two U.S. embassies, report the Associated Press and the New York Times. The court said the evidence is admissible as long as the overseas search was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
“There is nothing in our history or our precedents suggesting that U.S. officials must first obtain a warrant before conducting an overseas search,” the appeals court wrote.
The court also said defendants may be barred from access to classified materials if there is concern that disclosure of the information could endanger lives or investigations, the Times story says. The court also said Miranda rulings were not required in overseas arrests.
The court upheld the conviction of one of the convicted terrorists who had objected to a search of his home and the monitoring of his phone conversations. The 1998 embassy bombings killed 224 people.
