We all have little computers in our pockets. Cell phones. They’re so convenient. You can look at Facebook while you’re in line at the grocery store, pay your bills, and mindlessly scroll your life away. They can also send you to prison.
Everything about a cell phone is a tracking device. Data on your phone is with you forever. It doesn’t matter if you deleted that text. Law enforcement can still find the data.
Are you not worried about your text messages? Great. Did you know your phone is tracking you at all times? There is technology that is tracking you every single second of the day. Think you can get around that by leaving your phone at home or work? Think again. We handled a homicide where the fact that the defendant left their phone at work was used against him. Because if you forget your phone, don’t you always go back and get it?
Cell phones are terrifying, and all that data can be used against you. Will that be the case in a DWI trial? Probably not. But in severe cases? The cases we don’t plan on happening? The scary ones? Officers will search your phone. There are ways cops can get into it. If you have a picture, law enforcement will use it. If you have a text, they will use it. If the phone was tracking your location, police will use that.
Of course, you should always lock your phone. Use a passcode, or face lock. You should use a texting or messaging service that has end-to-end encryption. But the reality is, as soon as cell phone and app companies develop those security features, law enforcement is finding ways to break through that security.
There is not a safe way around it. There is no box to click to keep your phone from becoming an issue in a criminal trial. That is why you need an experienced attorney.