United States v. Burgard, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6555

Police seized Burgard's cell phone without a warrant based on probable cause and exigent circumstances.
Six days passed before officers sought a federal search warrant to examine the phone's contents.
A warrant was eventually obtained and executed; the search revealed sexually explicit images of underage girls.
Burgard pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving child pornography, with a sentence of 210 months and 15 years of supervised release.
Burgard moved to suppress the photographs on Fourth Amendment grounds due to the delay; the district court denied.
On appeal, the Seventh Circuit evaluated whether the six-day delay rendered the seizure unreasonable.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether six-day delay rendered seizure unreasonable	Burgard argued delay violated Fourth Amendment.	Burgard contends delay was unreasonable and suppressible.	Delay not unreasonable; suppression not required.
Whether good-faith exception applies to the delayed warrant	Gov't, via Leon, could salvage evidence via good-faith reliance on warrant.	Delay itself violated, so Leon should not apply.	Leon not automatic; delay-based violation typically suppresses evidence.

Segura v. United States, 468 U.S. 796 (U.S. 1984) (seizure duration affects reasonableness; warrant must follow within reasonable time)
Place v. United States, 462 U.S. 696 (U.S. 1983) (balancing test; brevity of seizure is important factor)
McArthur, 531 U.S. 326 (U.S. 2001) (two-hour delay after probable cause upheld; diligence matters)
Lee v. City of Chicago, 330 F.3d 456 (7th Cir. 2003) (continued retention issues differ from initial seizure challenges)
United States v. Martin, 157 F.3d 46 (2d Cir. 1998) (11-day delay after probable cause seizure; reasonableness depends on context)
United States v. Ganser, 315 F.3d 839 (7th Cir. 2003) (delay after seizure; context matters for reasonableness)