Cell Phones are often taken by the Police to gain evidence in criminal investigations for drug distribution, robbery, homicide, and various other crimes. Recently, the Court of Appels of Maryland significantly restricted the ability of the Police to conduct unlimited searches of your phone.
In RIchardson v. State (Sept. 2021 No. 46 August 29, 2022), the Court of Appeals ruled that a search warrant to search the cell phone of a robbery suspect was unlawful and violated the 4th Amendment, of the US Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right of privacy. In Richardson, the police were investigating a robbery and seized a cell phone from Richardson's bag. The police obtained a search warrant for the phone. The police found incriminating text messages about robbery on the phone. At trial, Richardson’s lawyer attempted to challenge the warrant that authorized the search of the phone. The trial court denied the motion to suppress the text message evidence from the phone. The Court of Appeals ruled that the search warrant violated the 4th Amendment and indicated that judges must “effectively limit the discretion of the searching officer so as not to intrude on the phone owner’s privacy interests any more than reasonably necessary to locate the evidence for which there is probable cause to search.” The Court cautioned law enforcement officers in the future that there needed to be some limitations on the scope of the search of the cell phone and failure to apply limit the search would likely lead to suppression of evidence.
This opinion is a prime example of why you need to hire a seasoned and experienced attorney to effectively fight for your freedoms and rights in your case. Your attorney not only needs the ability to recognize the issue of the illegally issued search warrant but also the skill and experience to argue the motion to suppress in Court. Ned Coyne of Coyne Law, LLC has decades of experience in litigating issues concerning warrants. When he was a prosecutor for many years, Mr. Coyne assisted police officers by reviewing search warrants for crimes ranging from homicide to drug distribution. Trust Ned Coyne to put his decades of experience to work for you in your case to recognize and challenge defective and unlawful warrants such as the one issued in Richardson,
Contact Coyne Law LLC today to get a free consultation on your case. Call us at 410-995-2030.