One area of dispute has been whether or not the police are allowed to go through your cell phone without a warrant. It has happened on a frequent basis and officers have used the information they found to arrest or prosecute. A recent case, Riley v. California went all the way to the Supreme Court where there was a unanimous ruling that a warrant is needed in order to search the contents of a cell phone. This is important for you to know because the police will not tell you your rights. You have to know them and enforce them.
As an Orange County criminal law attorney, this Supreme Court decision is an important one. Without it, the police and prosecutors have been able to submit into evidence photos that were taken on a person's phone, videos, maps with history on them, call logs, texts, etc. in order to prove their case. This has been highly unfair for defendants that use their cell phone as a way to record personal information and conduct what they believed to be, private conversations.
One of the cases that was heard by the Supreme Court, United States v. Wurie, came out of California and involved a man that was pulled over and arrested for possession of guns. In the meantime, his phone was searched, and the police found evidence of Wurie being connected with a gang shooting that had taken place. No warrant was obtained prior to conducting the search and as a result of the evidence obtained from his cell phone, he was sentenced to fifteen years in jail.
My job, as a criminal defense attorney, is to make sure that my clients receive the best possible defense after being charged with a crime. It doesn’t matter what the crime is; everyone deserves a strong defense and the opportunity to make their case. Doing so often involves making sure that my clients’ rights are protected at the same time. Even though, the Supreme Court has issued this ruling some law enforcement officers and prosecutors may be unaware of this change. It is up to me, as a defense attorney, to argue case law before a judge as to why certain evidence is inadmissible and should not be used in court. It is important to work with someone that is experienced in criminal law because the more your attorney knows, the better chance you have of navigating the court system to your benefit. As they say, knowledge is power! If you are pulled over, remember that you do not have to consent to a search and should never give consent for an officer to look through your cell phone.
