The California Supreme Court ruled recently that "the police in the state can search the contents of an arrested person's cell phone" without a warrant. In this instance the police witnessed a drug deal in a car driven by the plaintiff. He was arrested and a car search found 6 pills of Ecstasy. At the police station his cell phone was taken and an officer noticed text message "6 4 80" indicating a Ecstasy sale. Suspect then admitted to selling the drug. The court ruled that any data stored on the phone "...photos, address book, Web browsing history, data stored in apps (including social media apps), voice mail messages, search history, chat logs and more" can be accessed.
This source does not say for sure but it appears if the phone is locked and the suspect will not unlock it, a court warrant might be needed to access the phone's information. The Ohio state supreme court, in December 2009, made a similiar ruling and wanted the US Supreme Court to review it. They did not. Now they might.
(Source: CNN.com. on 1/5/11 "cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/01/05/search.warrant").
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