A phone can be a goldmine of information for police officers during an investigation. Someone may have been accused of distributing illegal substances, for instance. The police think their phone messages will provide connections to buyers, sellers or even drug manufacturers.
But if you’re facing criminal charges, do you actually have to let police officers read the messages on your phone? If your phone is locked, do you have to unlock it with your fingerprint or by giving them the password?
They typically need a warrant
In most cases, the police either need to get your consent to open the phone or they have to get a search warrant. They can’t force you to open it and they can’t force you to provide consent. You are fully within your rights to refuse, but they can compel you to do so if they get a valid search warrant.
One thing to consider is that you may not be the only person being served such a search warrant. For instance, there was a case where a mother and daughter were accused of criminal activity, and they had been exchanging direct messages about it on Facebook. While those messages likely existed on their phones, they also existed on Facebook’s servers. The police issued the warrant to Facebook, which then gave authorities the chat records. They didn’t need the phones at all.
Criminal defense options
If you’re facing criminal charges, it’s very important to understand what legal defense options you have available to you. This may be especially true if you believe the police may have violated your rights, such as performing an illegal search of your phone.
