Cops Seize Cell Phone, Impersonate Owner

[ion]

http://cryptogon.com/?p=30480


brief....



Cops Seize Cell Phone, Impersonate Owner
July 21st, 2012

Via: Ars Technica:

Court says sending texts using a seized iPhone doesn’t violate privacy rights.

In November 2009, police officers in the state of Washington seized an iPhone belonging to suspected drug dealer Daniel Lee. While the phone was in police custody, a man named Shawn Hinton sent a text message to the device, reading, “Hey whats up dogg can you call me i need to talk to you.” Suspecting that Hinton was looking to buy drugs from Lee, Detective Kevin Sawyer replied to the message, posing as Lee. With a series of text messages, he arranged to meet Hinton in the parking lot of a local grocery store—where Hinton was arrested and charged with attempted possession of heroin.

Hinton wasn’t Sawyer’s only target. According to a court decision summing up the facts, “Sawyer spent about 5 or 10 minutes looking at some of the text messages on the iPhone; he also looked to see who had been calling. Many of the text messages that Lee’s iPhone had received and stored were from individuals who were seeking drugs from Lee.”

So Sawyer texted one of the individuals on the list and asked him if he “needed more.” The individual, Jonathan Roden, replied, “Yeah, that would be cool. I still gotta sum, but I could use some more. I prefer to just get a ball, so I’m only payin’ one eighty for it, instead of two Ts for two hundred, that way.” (The court helpfully explained that a “ball” is “a drug weight equivalent to approximately 3.5 grams.”)

But can cops legally do this with seized cell phones? When their cases went to trial, Hinton and Roden both argued that Sawyer had violated their privacy rights by intercepting, without a warrant, private communications intended for Lee.

But in a pair of decisions, one of which was recently covered by Forbes, a Washington state appeals court disagreed. If the decisions, penned by Judge Joel Penoyar and supported by one of his colleagues, are upheld on appeal, they could have far-reaching implications for cell phone privacy.

 

[Guest 315072]

and thats y if u have an iphone.. and are arrested for drug dealing.. u should have had some1 with the app to delete everything on the phone as ssoon as u get caught.. people are stupid.. if i was selling mad drugs.. either 1 would use my 1 call to delete the phone or have the person i call do it for me.. !! fuck that iphones are sick.. u can delete the entire phone and deactivate it by calling a number u set up on an app designed for the phone.!!!

 

[erictheoldfart]

Entrapment...pure and simple.

 

[supermanlives]

i have heard of this several times. afoaf got popped and while in house the phone rang. cops answered and when people showed up they got arrested after cops gave them drugs . a few had warrants and illegal shit on em.

 

[gaiusmarius]

yeah but entrapment is being allowed in the US nowadays. so no surprise the judges let it fly. the highest number of people locked up per capita in the world! more then china, Korea or Iran, lmao and Americans are still convinced they are the freest people in the world like in the good old days.

 

[TB Gardens]

Yupp, happened to my buddy too. Got raided, took his phone, waited for txts to come in & busted like 10 ppl throughout the day.. Literally setting up gram deals & busting those kids...... I want to slap cops for shit like that... Not punch, I want to just slap them. It's the simplest concept to understand that by going that route you are wasting all our fucking tax dollars (their own fucking budget) while keeping the bigger fish they actually want open for biz.

Fucking idiots

 

[trichrider]

i suggest having at least ten cops #'s in your phone...

 

[bombadil.360]

yeah but entrapment is being allowed in the US nowadays. so no surprise the judges let it fly. the highest number of people locked up per capita in the world! more then china, Korea or Iran, lmao and Americans are still convinced they are the freest people in the world like in the good old days.

the basic difference is that while on the U.S cops pull this kind of trick, is because a law is being broken; we all know and agree that cannabis prohibition is unethical and totally wrong, but still, it is illegal and cops will try to get anyone busted for it because that's their job, right?

on the other hand, in the places you mentioned, you get arrested and harrased without any need to use any kind of trick, and for not even breaking any laws.

the freedoms you seem to take for granted are simply not present in those places you mentioned. you can even get executed in one of those places for even listening to metal music, just an example to put things into perspective.

still, you're right, in the west the next challenge in terms of freedom and personal liberty is to end this unethical war on drugs which does hinder our freedoms; but by no means this equals us to those other places.

peace

 

[huligun]

I was arrested at a drug bust (lots of cops and DEA). I was not really a suspect they just had me in cuffs so that I was not a risk to inform others that the house was being busted. This was San Diego. My guy was clean and going to pick up later. While cops were searching and collecting money and scales the phone rings. DEA picks it up and told this random caller to bring whatever he has. Cops clear the scene and watch the place. When the caller shows up they catch him really dirty. They had nothing on the rest of us and let us go. The caller got several years in prison because of greed and that stupid phone call.

 

[gaiusmarius]

the basic difference is that while on the U.S cops pull this kind of trick, is because a law is being broken; we all know and agree that cannabis prohibition is unethical and totally wrong, but still, it is illegal and cops will try to get anyone busted for it because that's their job, right?

on the other hand, in the places you mentioned, you get arrested and harrased without any need to use any kind of trick, and for not even breaking any laws.

the freedoms you seem to take for granted are simply not present in those places you mentioned. you can even get executed in one of those places for even listening to metal music, just an example to put things into perspective.

still, you're right, in the west the next challenge in terms of freedom and personal liberty is to end this unethical war on drugs which does hinder our freedoms; but by no means this equals us to those other places.

peace

i don't think you have been to any of the places we mentioned, so i would say you really don't know how fast or slow people are arrested in those places. i imagine if you are not against the regime and not a criminal you probably don't have too much to fear. you might have to pay a bribe to the cops if you get stopped, but that's part of doing business in many parts of the world. point is i really don't think they are as organized at harassing the citizens as in the states today. and its not just the drug war, the next big reason to get in your life/house is the whole climate change thing and the eco laws and regulations. it's not just gonna be about the length of your lawn, but the insulation on your windows or in the attic. what kind of toilet you have, do you have smoke alarms? are the batteries still full? did you recycle the trash? if you think anyone else in the world is faced with that much regulation you need to travel a bit. once you get past the tsa to other nations except Britain and Canada you will be amazed at the difference.

anyway my post was just supposed to be highlighting how ironic the situation is with the prisoner statistics. i wasn't really saying anyone place is better or worse. just is ironic to think of the land that the whole world looked to as the freest place on earth now has the highest number, per capita, of the population locked up on the whole planet. to be honest i think something big will change soon in the US. you can only push people so far, specially Americans.

 

[usda101]

Fuck the system they play by no rules so i dont either . Come get me an i will hold court in the streets .

 

[bombadil.360]

gaius, I don't mean to brag or anything, but I've done a fair bit of travelling and have actually lived in a few different countries for several years at a time, and actually speak more languagues than most in here as well. not only did I lived and study in the U.S, but also in the middle-east, and was born and raised in south america. also been to europe, etc... etc... etc...

we'll have to agree to disagree if you think places like muslim countries or communist countries will grant as much freedom to pot smokers as the U.S or Western Europe does... or any other kind of freedom for that matter.

also, keep in mind that many countries do not release the true statistics of how many people are in prision... a nice example comes to mind: Venezuela. just these seven months of the year, 600 prision mates have been killed due to unsustainable prision situations... and yet, the official message from the regime is that 'all is good and well' and any shitty news you hear is just the cia making stuff up to damage the 'revolution'.... quite laughable.

 

[huligun]

I have a lot in common with bombadil and have to agree. Although the law may seem sparse in many countries outside the USA if the do catch you breaking it you will pay dearly. Add to that you will stand out in a crowd of people that may not care for you country of origin. Saying that you are better off in one of these countries does a disservice to our members.

 

[usda101]

Steeple Hill is real .

 

[johnnybravo]

i have several phones on my family plan account. my son has one of them. the moment i found out he got busted for some weed i went online and reported his phone as lost/stolen! he also had his phone protected by a pin number which helped. i guarantee the pigs would have done the same thing had we not taken proper precautions!

 

[still pluggin]

As growers not currently living in a US prison, we should all pat ourselves on the back every once and a while.

These witless, motherless kunts can lie, cheat and steal, they have near-limitless budgets to fuck around and boast every other advantage possible in this game.

And on we grow, and on we medicate.

FUCK EM!

 

[Hammerhead]

Leo can do some fuked up shit legally. They can lie, Undercover police don't have to tell you there a cop if asked. Tell you they have your finger prints when they don't. they have an eye witness when they don't.

 

[Hydrosun]

well the double has now edited away my response.

but picking on kids keeps the cops safe in payoff money and away from working hard.

 

[gaiusmarius]

gaius, I don't mean to brag or anything, but I've done a fair bit of travelling and have actually lived in a few different countries for several years at a time, and actually speak more languagues than most in here as well. not only did I lived and study in the U.S, but also in the middle-east, and was born and raised in south america. also been to europe, etc... etc... etc...

we'll have to agree to disagree if you think places like muslim countries or communist countries will grant as much freedom to pot smokers as the U.S or Western Europe does... or any other kind of freedom for that matter.

also, keep in mind that many countries do not release the true statistics of how many people are in prision... a nice example comes to mind: Venezuela. just these seven months of the year, 600 prision mates have been killed due to unsustainable prision situations... and yet, the official message from the regime is that 'all is good and well' and any shitty news you hear is just the cia making stuff up to damage the 'revolution'.... quite laughable.

what ever, it's always about the pot with you. while i love being free to toke, there are more fundamental things that come first in matters of freedom imo.

also i never said it was better to live in china or Iran, lol. you always read so much more into my posts then i'm actually saying it seems.

I have a lot in common with bombadil and have to agree. Although the law may seem sparse in many countries outside the USA if the do catch you breaking it you will pay dearly. Add to that you will stand out in a crowd of people that may not care for you country of origin. Saying that you are better off in one of these countries does a disservice to our members.

so true, if you fuck up in one of those countries and don't have a connection to the top you are in deep shit. never said i like it or want to live there. just if you are not against the regime and don't do anything they think is wrong you will have very little hassle from authorities. but it's a big if for sure. way too extreme and totalitarian for my comfort.

btw. i never said you were better off in one of those places, kindly don't put words in my mouth.

 

[supermanlives]

its not entrapment unless the cops call you.