Terry is a reporter who has been investigating government procurement scandal. Denver is a police officer looking into the same incident as a possible criminal matter. Terry receives an anonymous tip that a government official is meeting with a computer expert to delete records relating to the controversial procurement later this evening. Terry tells Denver about the tip. That afternoon, Denver asks one of the government staffers who has been co-operating in the investigation to preserve a full copy of all data on three key servers. The staffer confirms that: (i) a copy is stored on a device that is disconnected from the Internet and not located at the office; and (ii) the premier has instructed that the copy be delivered to the police in the morning. Later that evening, with a group of officers, Denver entered the government offices without a warrant and finds the government official and a technician deleting files. They are arrested, and the servers from which the files were being deleted are seized but they are not searched until one-month later - after Denver obtains a warrant to them and the copy made by the staffer.

Based on the cases discussed in class: (i) what is the most appropriate charge; and (ii) what arguments and cases could be used to advantage if you were defending the government official?