A question may arise as to whether a person should voluntarily give law enforcement access to the contents of a cell phone?  The simple and most common answer would be no.  A person has a privacy right to those contents and in most circumstances, it is not in the person’s best interests to make law enforcement’s job easier.  Quite simply, you don’t know what may be found in your cell phone these days, whether that information was there intentionally or not.  In this day and age of people hacking tech devises or accidentally clicking on a link with potential negative connotations, a person simply may have no idea what kind of information law enforcement may find.

Generally speaking,  a private citizen does not need to speak to law enforcement when they are not armed with a warrant.  You may refuse to answer questions or cease answering questions at any time.  Even if you feel that you are not reasonably “free to leave” or “detained” you are still free to refuse to answer any questions from law enforcement.  This extends to seizure of your property including personal items such as cell phones.  There are several circumstances where law enforcement can seize your property, including cell phones.  These circumstances include but are not necessarily limited to:  If law enforcement believes the cell phone contains evidence of a crime for which an arrest is made to preserve evidence; If the cell phone is in plain view and its incriminating nature is immediately apparent under the “plain view doctrine”; or Under exigent circumstances if there is probable cause to believe that evidence will be removed or destroyed before a warrant can be obtained.

It is important to note that though law enforcement may seize your cell phone, this does not necessarily mean that they can access the contents of your cell phone without a valid warrant.  It has been established by the Supreme Court that the digital data on a cell phone does not pose a danger to officers and cannot be used to effectuate an escape, thus it requires a warrant to search the cell phone contents.  (Riley v. California (2014) 573 U.S. 373).

That said there are certain situations where it may be beneficial for a person to give access to their cell phone data.  First and foremost, if that person is confident that there is nothing linked to any criminal behavior.  But even under these circumstances it is a risk.  Though most attorneys would still probably advise clients to require a law enforcement to get a warrant, there are circumstances where it actually may benefit someone.  In the rare cases where there may not be much of a defense, either due to a voluntary confession or where there is an abundance of evidence already established, voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement may help a defendant resolve their case for a lesser charge through plea agreements or even at sentencing.  Though it is not a guarantee that the District Attorney’s office may be more willing to offer a lesser charge based on the level of cooperativeness of defendant.  It has also been established that cooperation with law enforcement is a factor that can lead to a reduced sentence.  In both cases the acceptance of responsibility may carry significant weight with the both the District Attorney and Judge.

As a general rule of thumb, you should always contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible to assist you at every stage of your case.
Eric Acevedo