Tunick’s legal team is now trying to have the evidence thrown out. It argues that he was questioned without being read his Miranda rights, that agents repeatedly refused his requests to speak with a lawyer, and that the phone search was an unreasonable seizure.
If those were cops, that search and seizure would be completely illegal and they would get laughed out of court. You can’t force someone to give you their password.
Now these were border people. That part of the american justice system seems already pretty lawless. Whether or not they are allowed to do what they did will be a central part of the case.
Also they pressured him to give them the code to unlock the phone and seemingly typed it in themselves. So maybe you can argue that it was their fault for not researching GrapheneOS and they destroyed the evidence.
This whole thing seems stupid and about some power tripping border-guards.
So who’s really in the wrong here?
As a guy who knows nothing about the laws here:
If those were cops, that search and seizure would be completely illegal and they would get laughed out of court. You can’t force someone to give you their password.
Now these were border people. That part of the american justice system seems already pretty lawless. Whether or not they are allowed to do what they did will be a central part of the case.
Also they pressured him to give them the code to unlock the phone and seemingly typed it in themselves. So maybe you can argue that it was their fault for not researching GrapheneOS and they destroyed the evidence.
This whole thing seems stupid and about some power tripping border-guards.
I doubt this is going to go to court. They wouldn’t want to risk setting a precedent with a small fry like him.
Watch them drive it all the way up to the supreme court and suddenly encrypted drives are illegal for civilians or some dumb shit like that XD