The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that police must secure a warrant to search an arrestee s cellphone, as I wrote in a column.
But is a criminal defendant s cellphone pass code protected?
In an intriguing Virginia case, a judge ruled that police can take a defendant s fingerprint in order to unlock a cellphone.
But the police can t require the person to give his cellphone passcode, the judge said, as the reported.
Lawyers for David Baust, charged with trying to strangle his girlfriend, argued that forcing the defendant to provide a cellphone passcode was a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits forced self-incrimination.
The judge agreed. Here s how the Virginian-Pilot describes the judge s reasoning:
It is unknown if using a fingerprint will unlock the defendant s phone. There is a possibility he used fingerprint and a pass code to secure his phone.
Above: A customer configuring the fingerprint scanner used in iPhone 5S. (
