[ARandomerDude]

Digital property is property.

[inigyou]

Is that what the law says? Does it say that digital copies of photos are property? Does it say browsing history is property?

[gruez]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Not to mention it fails a basic sniff test. You seriously think a judge is going to rule "well even though you deleted all your emails, since those are technically bits stored on a phone, and the phone is still there, you haven't destroyed anything, and you're free to go?"

[Guvante]

Except that doesn't matter here, IP isn't why you can't destroy emails.

You can't destroy emails because they law says those are evidence.