He didn’t give police his iPhone pass code, so he got 180 days in jail
He didn’t give police his iPhone pass code, so he got 180
days in jail
BY DAVID OVALLE MAY 30, 2017 2:11 PM
A Hollywood man must serve 180 days in jail for refusing
to give up his iPhone password to police, a Broward judge ruled Tuesday — the
latest salvo in intensifying legal battles over law-enforcement access to smart
phones.
Christopher Wheeler, 41, was taken into custody in a
Broward Circuit Court, insisting he had already provided the pass code to
police investigating him for child abuse, although the number did not work.
“I swear, under oath, I’ve given them the password,” a
distraught Wheeler, his hands handcuffed behind his back, told Circuit Judge
Michael Rothschild, who earlier in May found the man guilty of contempt of
court.
As Wheeler was jailed Tuesday, the same issue was
unfolding in Miami-Dade for a man accused of extorting a social-media celebrity
over stolen sex videos.
That man, Wesley Victor, and his girlfriend had been
ordered by a judge to produce a pass code to phones suspected of containing
text messages showing their collusion in the extortion plot.
Victor claimed he didn’t remember the number. He
prevailed.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Charles Johnson
ruled that there was no way to prove that Victor actually remembered his pass
code, more than 10 months after his initial arrest. Johnson declined to hold
the man in contempt of court.
“The judge made the right call,” said his lawyer, Zeljka
Bozanic. “My client testified he did not remember. It’s been almost a year.
Many people, including myself, can’t remember passwords from a year ago.”
Victor and his girlfriend, reality TV star Hencha Voigt,
are accused of threatening to release sex videos stolen from Miami social-media
celebrity YesJulz in exchange for $18,000. Voigt is also facing a contempt of
court charge — she provided her pass code, but it did not work.
She’ll appear in court next week to explain why.
Both cases underscore the friction over courts ordering
defendants to give up their pass codes, which critics say violates a citizen’s
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Judges have struggled to
determine how much access law enforcement can get to smartphones, tablets and
hard drives — particularly ones using increasingly sophisticated encryption
technology.
“For me, this is like turning over a key to a
safe-deposit box,” Johnson said in ordering Victor and Voigt to give up their
pass codes.
Both Wheeler and Victor were ordered to give up their
pass codes under a Florida appeals court decision out of Sarasota that allowed
for police to compel a pass code for a suspected video voyeur. The Florida
Supreme Court has yet to take up the issue.
Wheeler was arrested in March on accusations that he hit
and scratched his young daughter. He was charged with child abuse.
Detectives believe that his phone contains images of
repeated injuries to the child, which could prove evidence in the case. A Broward
judge earlier authorized a search warrant for Wheeler’s iPhone, but detectives
had been unable to get in.
When a judge ordered him to provide the pass code, it
didn’t work. Rothschild held him in criminal contempt earlier this month.
Wheeler will eventually be allowed to post bond pending
an appeal. If he gives up a working pass code, he’ll be allowed out of jail,
Judge Rothschild told him.
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