Category Archives: Cases of Interest

Admissibility, Cases of Interest, Constitution, Criminal Liability, eDiscovery California, Judges, Law

e-Discovery California: Brown Cancels Leno

Continuing what many privacy advocates will see as a disturbing trend against 4th Amendment protections in the state of California (and elsewhere), Governor Brown has vetoed the ‘Leno’ bill, SB 914.  The bill would have required the government to obtain a warrant to search a cellular device upon an arrest.  This follows on the heels of the Supreme Court of the United States declining to grant review of the Diaz case.

In another California case, the 2nd District Court of Appeal cited Diaz in upholding the warrantless search of a digital camera.

These days, if you blink, you may miss another decision affecting the concept of privacy in the United States.

Admissibility, Cases of Interest, Constitution, Criminal Liability, Judges, Law, Scope

Case Got Your Tongue? I Plead the Fourth!

MP910220941 If things continue like this, we're not going to know what the 4th Amendment stands for, anymore.  In my neck of the woods, a three-judge panel from the 6th District Court of Appeals for California extended the authority that SCOTUS granted in Diaz.  In People v. Nottoli (H035902) [warning: link opens 38-page pdf], the Court summoned the previous 'container' argument and ruled that during an inventory search incident to a lawful arrest, a cellular device (in this case, a Blackberry) found in a glove compartment was fair game for a warrantless search.

What result if Nottoli had password-protected his device?

While California appears to be loosening 4th Amendment protections further, other jurisdictions are tightening them.  In United States v. Musgrove, 2011 WL 4356521 (E.D.Wis. 2011) (Joseph, M.J.), the mere movement of a mouse/touching of a keyboard was enough to trigger an illegal search ruling.  How?  Defendant's PC's screen-saver was enabled.  Nothing was visible to officers who responded to D's home to investigate the possibility of criminal behavior.  By either touching the mouse or keyboard, an officer brought the device out of screen-saver mode, revealing a Facebook wall containing incriminating evidence, resulting in D's arrest.

Citing the 'Plain View' exception, the Court reasoned that, had the Facebook wall been visible, no violation would have occurred.  However, once the officer manipulated the mouse or keyboard to reveal the page, this constituted an illegal search.

What result if Musgrove had password-protected his device?

The dichotomy between these two cases is that the former was a search incident to a lawful arrest and the latter was a search resulting in a lawful arrest (according to facts, I'm giving the officers the benefit of the doubt because only the search was ruled unlawful, not the arrest – yet).

Why does this interest me?  Anyone who has used a Blackberry knows that, under normal circumstances, the device goes into sleep mode and one must manipulate a key, the trackball or the trackpad to bring it out of that mode.

I suspect that plenty more fact-specific arguments are on the horizon…

Cases of Interest, Constitution, Cost, Judges, Law, Privilege

The Truth about Truth as a Defense

MP900342030 You can be held liable for telling the truth.  That’s right.  As counter-intuitive as it sounds, it’s (for lack of a better word) true.  I mention this because, once again, I’m hearing that someone – a blogger, in this case – was held liable for reporting the truth – and everyone gets into a lather.  How can this be?  It’s a travesty of justice!

Well, technically, they’re right.  The pure definition of defamation includes a false something.  But this sometimes clashes with other laws, such as the right to privacy, also referred to as “the right to be let alone”.  After all, some truths are private.

We could argue all day about a court’s right/wrong decisions, but taking the above case as an example, they seemed to be looking at the totality of the conduct of the defendant – and the results of that conduct.

Ultimately, as the post’s author explains, this case came down to contract law.  They got the defendant on tortious interference.  We’ll see what happens on appeal.

Something to think about prior to that next gossip session at the water cooler.

Cases of Interest, Cost, Criminal Liability, International, Management, Media, Sanctions, Scope, Technology

Cascades: Good for Mountains, Bad for News Orgs

MP900438949 First things first.  My beloved Cubs rewarded my visit with a 13-3 loss to the Marlins, marking this as the most lopsided score over the 15+ years I’ve been making this journey.  Now, firmly ensconced in San Francisco – and with my state bar duties dispensed with for the week – we can return to more pressing matters…

How many of the execs swallowed up in the News of the World Scandal thought they’d ever be arrested in their lifetimes?  None.  In fact, a high percentage of the general public would agree with them.  But people-who-you-normally-wouldn’t-expect-to-be-arrested are arrested.  And some of them eventually go to jail.

While you watch the slow and painful erosion of the Murdoch empire – and the collateral damage causally connected to it – I hope you consider one ingredient to add to your schadenfreude; you’re watching a large-scale version of how your criminal or civil matter will unfold if you don’t deal with it when it’s manageable.

Of course, yours won’t likely be this big or this public – or this expensive – but this is how it’ll start; a molehill that, over time, grows into a mountain.  Or, in this case, a mountain range.  eDiscovery rules & regulations, litigation readiness programs and early case assessment are all designed to staunch the bleeding and, if instituted early enough, prevent the wound altogether.

You have to be willing to take the pain.  Like they always say, the first cut is the deepest.

Cases of Interest, Criminal Liability, e-Evidence Insights, Strategy

e-Evidence Insights: Casey Anthony & the #eDiscovery Connection

MP900423019 The last thing I want to do is harp on the Casey Anthony trial; more than is necessary to make my point, anyway.  I only want to discuss one item; the verdict.  Is there an eDiscovery connection?  Yes, if you look at cases holistically and not by their parts.  I see people get so wrapped up in the minutia of what we do, they forget that ultimately, this thing may go to trial!

Why's this important?  Because you can be very successful at the eDiscovery portion – and still lose.  If this case proved anything, it's that anyone who thinks they can handicap a jury is smoking crack.  That goes for you, too, Nancy Grace!

One thing that always adds a wild-card to the deliberations – and this was clearly cited in one of the juror interviews – when the element of it being a capital case is added to the mix, individuals are reticent to be the ones to sign the death warrant, even if they're absolutely certain of guilt (and they weren't even close, here).

It's still a marathon to the finish line, but always bear in mind, eDiscovery is just a single watering-station.

Admissibility, Cases of Interest, Constitution, Criminal Liability, eMail, Law, Privilege, Sanctions, Scope, Technology

The 6th Amendment, the Blackstone Ratio & #eDiscovery

GOOBF Card

"Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."

– William Blackstone, 1783

"’tis much more Prudence to acquit two Persons, tho’ actually guilty, than to pass Sentence of Condemnation on one that is virtuous and innocent."

– Voltaire, 1749

Whether you agree with the passages above (or a similarly-stated quote by Benjamin Franklin, circa 1785), one thing is certain; they form the basis of criminal jurisprudence in the United States.  At least, they used to…I think that claim would be up for strenuous debate these days.

But that's why I wanted to bring you this particular case for our examination.  It doesn't matter what I think; what matters is, familiarize yourself with these issues because there's a high likelihood you'll see them – or something like them – in civil or criminal court.  After all, attorney-client privilege is attorney-client privilege – it just so happens the venue in this example is criminal court, and the argument is Constitutionality in theory; the 6th Amendment Right to Counsel.

One thing that distinguishes a criminal complaint from a civil one is, when the government discovers and/or seizes evidence (whether due to reasonable suspicion, probable cause or a formal warrant) in many instances, the target does not enjoy the benefit of attorney representation (hey, it might be torture for you, but I'd say my company is enjoyable…).

Such is the case with defendant.  The government seized certain computer records, and among those records were emails from defendant to his wife – which were subsequently forwarded to defendant's attorney.  Defendant was convicted, but upon appeal, it was determined that the emails were subject to attorney-client privilege and the prosecutor's review of same was deemed a violation of defendant's 6th Amendment rights.

What am I telling you?  First, you won't always have control over what data is turned over to the other side (do I hear "clawback agreements", anyone?) and second, if you find yourself in a situation like this, somebody on your side had better examine each and every shred of data in the possession of your adversary.

Again, this isn't a judgment on the validity/invalidity of overturning a conviction based on a technicality (I'll leave it to followers of the Casey Anthony trial to argue their perception of what's fair or unfair about the current judicial system).  We have a job to do, our clients depend on us and we are to zealously represent – and protect – their interests.

File this one under Segal's Ratio: "For your client's sake, where electronic evidence is concerned, endeavor to know what you don't know."

Admissibility, Cases of Interest, Constitution, Criminal Liability, eDiscovery California, Judges, Law, Privilege, Scope

e-Discovery California: The ‘Leno’ Show Seeks to Overturn Diaz: SB 914

MP900443017 If you're not familiar with Diaz, begin here.  In a nutshell, the Supreme Court of California ruled that if arrested, the government may search your cellular device – without a warrant.  Now the California legislature is getting in on the act. 

State Senator Mark Leno (D-SF) has introduced SB 914 (which has already passed in the senate), seeking to overturn that decision and require the government to do things the old-fashioned way; procure a warrant based on probable cause.

I've previously said that the current ruling has the potential to lead us down a dangerous path.  As far as the state of California is concerned, this is a very important piece of 4th Amendment legislation.

Regardless of how this turns out, you already know my advice; set a password for your PDA – and keep it!

Admissibility, Cases of Interest, Criminal Liability, e-Evidence Insights

e-Evidence Insights: Key Card ‘Chief’ in IMF Rape Prosecution

MP900431773 When one thinks about acquiring forensic evidence in relation to a criminal rape charge, I doubt electronic evidence would normally be on the list of items sought.  However, a hotel key card is likely to figure prominently in the prosecution of the now-former-IMF Chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  Is the theory set forth by the information gleaned from the key card likely to be convoluted?  It seems likely, however, this serves as an appropriate reminder that eDiscovery is not just about civil cases.