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US Court Says Police Can Read Text Messages in Suspects Phone
Published on:
A drug dealer who was caught when police used the phone of a customer to lure him into a trap has lost his appeal against conviction.
Jonathan Roden had appealed that the police ensnarement violated the Washington Privacy Act which requires police to get a court order before intercepting phone communications.
The police had originally arrested a different man, Daniel Lee and when they searched his phone, they found messages that looked suspicious, so sent replies to arrange a meeting to secure more drugs. The police then turned up at the arranged time and arrested Roden on suspicion of dealing in illegal drugs.
He appealed saying that the earlier text message conversations were private.
However, the Washington Court of Appeals disagreed saying there was not implicit expectation of privacy with text messages, which could be read by anyone with access to the handset.
Although the appeal was overturned, one judge in the court dissented warning that the ruling could lead to warrentless searches of any electronic device that stored messages.
Tags: [USA]
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