No. 20-7914

Danny Ray Williams v. United States

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2021-05-03
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP Experienced Counsel
Tags: 4th-amendment cell-phone cell-phone-search consent consent-search custodial-interrogation digital-privacy forensic-evidence forensic-search fourth-amendment search-and-seizure
Key Terms:
FourthAmendment Privacy
Latest Conference: 2021-05-27
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether an officer must expressly state that he is seeking consent for a forensic, not just a manual, search of a cell phone

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED FOR REVIEW During a custodial interrogation, a police detective asked for the password to Danny Williams’ cell phone, which had been seized incident to Williams’ arrest. Williams complied and provided the password. He and the detective then looked at portions of the phone’s content, but Williams specifically directed the detective not to look at other portions. After the interrogation, the detective had a full forensic search conducted on the entire phone. Over William’s objection that limited consent to a manual search could not be construed as consent to a forensic search, evidence extracted during the forensic search was admitted at his trial. The question presented is whether an officer must expressly state that he is seeking consent for a forensic, not just a manual, search of a cell phone.

Docket Entries

2021-06-01
Petition DENIED.
2021-05-12
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/27/2021.
2021-05-07
Waiver of right of respondent United States of America to respond filed.
2021-04-26
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due June 2, 2021)

Attorneys

Danny Ray Williams
Philip J. LynchLaw Offices of Phil Lynch, Petitioner
Philip J. LynchLaw Offices of Phil Lynch, Petitioner
United States of America
Elizabeth B. PrelogarActing Solicitor General, Respondent
Elizabeth B. PrelogarActing Solicitor General, Respondent