To answer the question (one) 1 below.

Use the fact pattern below and the cases discussed in Dr. Robert's Civil Liberties Lecture #2.

Debate

1. Do the police have the right to go through a person's cell phone as a warrantless search to an incident of a lawful arrest? Support your answer with the cases discussed in the lecture.

Cell Phone Debate MOOT COURT FACT PATTERN-

On January 9, 1997, at 9:40 p.m. 20-year old Ester Roberts had just finished her work out at California State University Dominguez Hills where she was a junior transfer student from Los Angeles Southwest College, a Historically Black College (HBCU) on the west coast. As she walked to her car a man approached her from behind and sexually assaulted her. The man then stabbed Roberts several times and left her for dead. Roberts survived and described her attacker. From that description, police prepared a composite sketch and released it to the public. Multiple neighbors called the police and reported that the man looked like Abdullah Bakari (AKA Street name- Abdullah the Women's Ruler), a man previously convicted multiple rapes, recently paroled to the area.

The case went to trial and garnered national media attention. At trial, Roberts, whose face, neck and chest bore permanent and horrific scars, identified Bakari, who jurors convicted for the rape and attempted murder. Bakari was sentenced to 25-years to life in prison. In April of 2014, the Court Appeal overturned the conviction and released Bakari after recently tested DNA found at the scene of the crime did not match Bakari's or anyone else in the DNA database.

After learning of Bakari's release, Roberts, now married with three children, had a massive heart attack and died. Three weeks, Bakari's body was found floating in the LA River near Carson California. His throat had been slashed. There were no witnesses to the crime and police were unable to recover any DNA or other physical evidence. By December of 2014, the Bakari murder investigation had grown cold. While the murder of Bakari made the news, no pictures of his body were ever released to the public.

On March 16, 2015, 18-year-old Oliver U. Mason was driving his mother's 2011 Toyota Prius from the church. Mason was a straight-A student, a second baseman for his St. Serra high school varsity baseball team and had recently been accepted to UC Berkeley with a full scholarship. Mason was at the intersection of Western & 108th when Lennox Sheriff stopped him for having expired tags on the Prius' license plate.

Lennox Sheriff Officer Bill Detrow asked Mason for his California driver's license and registration. Mason gave Detrow both. Detrow checked the registration, which was current. As it turns out, Mason had forgotten to put on the new license plate tags. However, a DMV check of Mason's driver licensed revealed his license was suspended because Mason failed to appear in court for a speeding ticket he received last year. Detrow arrested Mason for driving on a suspended license. The arrest was lawful.

Detrow legally searched Mason as part of the arrest. Inside Mason's pocket, Detrow found Oliver's house keys, his Saint Serra High School identification, 17 dollars in cash, Beats by Dr. Dre earbuds, and an iPhone 5c. The iPhone 5c was inside of a royal blue-cell phone case. The cell phone case was engraved with the letters E.R-M.

Detrow, who was a gang officer, believed that ERM stood for East Side Rosecrans Mafia, a notorious Compton street gang. In police custody, Mason was allowed to make a phone call on his personal iPhone. After the call, Detrow immediately took the iPhone that was now unlocked. Without a search warrant, Detrow began to look through Mason's iPhone looking for evidence of gang affiliation. As Detrow scrolled through the pictures, he saw a dark photo of an older Arab man's body floating in the Los Angeles River near Carson California. The man's throat had been slashed.

The IPhone then locked out and went into guest mode. Detrow wanted to retrieve more data so he asked his friend and informant "Huggy Bear Jones," who also works as an expert coder for a subsidiary to Apple Computers to write a code to unlock the iPhone. Huggy Bear Jones agreed after Office Detrow got an All Writs Act for a Judge to allow a further search into the locked iPhone. Huggy then applied the code and opened full access to Mason's personal data.

Detrow then scrolled to the next set of photos. It was a picture of a handwritten piece of a journal paper, which read, "To my mother, Ester Roberts-Mason, justice is now done. May you now rest in peace."

Mason was tried for murder. At his trial, Mason moved to suppress (exclude) the only evidence against him, the pictures are taken from the cell phone without a warrant and with the subsequent decoding of his password. The motion was denied. Jurors convicted Mason for Barkari's murder based on the information obtained from his cell phone. Mason is now serving 25 years to life at Cochran State Prison. Mason has filed an appeal claiming the search of his iPhone was illegal.

4th Amendment

Amendment IV -The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Debate

1. Do the police have the right to go through a person's cell phone as a warrantless search to an incident of a lawful arrest? Support your answer with the cases discussed in the lecture.

Hint: Use Riley v California