Police believe you have been involved in drug sales or even drug trafficking. They want to conduct an investigation to gather evidence of illegal activity.
During that investigation, officers decide that they want to search your phone. Perhaps they believe you have been communicating with certain contacts who have helped you transport drugs across state lines. They want to see your call logs or your text message records, or perhaps they just want to look at your location data to see where you were at a certain time.
Do they have a warrant?
At first, the police may simply ask for your consent. They will ask you to unlock your phone so that they can examine it for evidence. While you do have the option to say yes, you are not obligated to do so. You can tell them that you are not going to unlock the device and you do not provide your consent to a search.
At that point, the police typically have to get a search warrant. If they can show probable cause to a judge, the judge can issue a warrant for your cellphone, authorizing a search of the device. If the police force you to unlock it without a warrant, however, it may be an illegal search, and any evidence they gather could be excluded from court.
One other detail to note is that the third-party doctrine means they can often gather evidence from other sources if it has been voluntarily shared. If you shared location data with an app while getting a ride, for example, they may be able to ask the tech company that built the app to turn over that information, even if they do not unlock your device.
Addressing serious drug charges
Charges for drug trafficking are very serious and can have a major impact on your future. Make sure you understand all of your criminal defense options.
