Damon Jerome Richardson, Appellant v. the State of Texas, Appellee

Summary

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated the Amarillo Court of Appeals' categorical holding that a pen register is never a search under Article I, § 9 of the Texas Constitution and remanded for further proceedings to determine whether the installation and use of a pen register in this case constituted a search and, if so, whether it was unreasonable absent probable cause. The majority emphasized that the proper inquiry is the existence of a legitimate expectation of privacy in the telephone numbers dialed. A dissent argued that the appellant, as a pre‑trial detainee, had no reasonable expectation of privacy and therefore affirmed the lower court.